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MICHIGAN GREYHOUND CONNECTION OUR HISTORY 
February 1989 - Our founder, Dave Houy, vacations in Florida and first learns about the racing greyhound. He learns about the oversupply of these dogs and the too few families to adopt them
April 2, 1989 - Unable to shake the image of these wonderful greyhounds Dave drives to Lexington, Kentucky, another state with greyhound racing, and meets with Dee Fries and adopts Jasmine, the first Michigan Greyhound Connection adoptee. July 28, 1989 - Jim Ricci, a columnist for the Detroit Free Press,learns about Dave and Jasmine and the need for former racers to find their forever families. He writes a full-page article and includes contact information for Dave. In Dave’s own words “All hell breaks loose”. His phone lines are jammed for weeks and he begins to recruit some of the callers to help him answer calls and process adoption requests and… MICHIGAN GREYHOUND CONNECTION IS BORN!!!! August 1989 - Michigan Greyhound Connection becomes the first greyhound adoption group in Michigan. Dave, Howard Smith and Sue Reigel work furiously to process applications and set basic rules and procedures for the fast growing rganization. New adopters are recruited and, under the tutelage of Dee, we all learn together how to operate a successful greyhound adoption group. We have good times and bad times, encounter good people and not so good people. Though some mistakes are made, we recover, keep moving forward and manage to place hundreds of greyhounds into loving adoptive homes. 1991 - We incorporate as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization March 1997 - Dave receives a job offer that is too good to pass up, resigns from the board of Michigan Greyhound Connection and moves to Chicago. With seasoned board members and volunteers in place, Michigan Greyhound Connection continues its mission to place greyhounds and educate the public about these wonderful dogs. October 2000 - Susan Bilsky becomes President of the group and, when a vacancy comes up on the board of directors, Dave, now living in Connecticut, is coaxed out of retirement and again offers his greyhound adoption expertise to MGC. Michigan Greyhound Connection continues to do what it does best: educate, advocate and place greyhounds. December 2000 - Sweet Jasmine, our first adopted greyhound, passed away in December 2000 at the age of 13. Her legacy lives on as over 1,000 retired racers have adopted families to love them! 2013 - Michigan Greyhound Connection and REGAP (Retired Greyhounds as Pets) combine their organizations and love of greyhounds to support greyhounds in Southeast Michigan. REGAP has a strong volunteer presence on the east side of the greater Detroit area while Michigan Greyhound Connection has a significant presence on the west side. January 2018 - Our group is now twenty-nine years old. Over 1500 former racing greyhounds have found homes! We are all volunteer-run, funded by donations of friends, family and kindness of strangers. Susan Bilsky continues as President with Marni Foster, Vice President; Nancy Wallace, Treasurer; Dave Houy, Founder and past President; Ken Mitchell, Secretary. We remain a viable group with seasoned leadership ever more committed to making a difference in the lives of the racing greyhound. Our enthusiasm has not waned and we are energized by the dedication and loyalty of our members. Our mission remains the same to provide placement of these special dogs in caring, loving families | ||||||||||||||||||
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