Louise Coleman with greyhound "Elvis" and beagle basset "Gunshy"
Boston Boy -A Greyhound Journey
Boston Boy
...how the adventure started
Mother's Day 1983
Louise Coleman
Search and see if there is not some place where you may invest your humanity. ~ Albert Schweitzer
I remember when he had to die - an old sweet dog sick with cancer. He clung to his bed and hated to go anywhere. When the vet came and gave him an injection and sent him to heaven. We both cried. Boston Boy was a seasoned racer, aged five, when I got him. I hadn’t thought about getting a dog. It just seemed too bad that a dog with a name like Boston Boy was going to be destroyed and would get no reward for all his work. An extraordinary racer, he finished at five at a top track and was never graded off. After I brought him home and tried to introduce people to him, he would act like a canine statue.
I nicknamed him Shadow because he shadowed me. But alone with my son Nolan and I, he was demonstrative and himself. Shadow wasn’t alone for long. He became long-suffering and patient as more greyhounds entered and passed through his home. Trainers, who knew about his adoption kept calling up to ask me to find homes for more dogs. Greyhounds sat on all the couches and chairs. Boston Boy was permanent; he knew that he was for keeps, for good. But he was like a stone thrown into still water. From him concentric circles started. They are still going out. He had a good dog’s soul; he was the sweetest boy. Through Shadow my bond with greyhounds was formed. By the simple act of sparing one dog his death, my life was altered. Many people and circumstances remained the same, but the connections became much more intense, varied and extensive.
I never would have circled out so far had I not brought Shadow home that day. Exhausting work pushes the ripples out, and help comes. My life changed on Mother’s Day, 1983, the day Shadow came. Many people hope for a definitive moment to galvanize their lives. My moment came and brought Boston Boy. He was a real gentleman, my ever loving and faithful Shadow.
Greyhound Friends/ Louise Coleman:
-Courage of Conscience Award,
Peace Abbey
-Reverence for Life Award, Massachusetts Antivivisection Society
-Massachusetts State Senate Official Citation - In Recognition
of Twenty Years of Dedicated Service to Greyhound Protection and
Advocacy.
-Massachusetts State House of Representatives Official Citation - In
Recognition of Twenty Five Years of Dedicated Service to Greyhound
Protection and Advocacy.
-The Greyhound Project -
They Thank you for Making a Difference Award
Twenty Years of Greyhound Adoption
-The Elisabeth Lewyt Award -
North Shore Animal League
-Person of Distinction Award to Louise Coleman
From the MetroWest Daily News
-The best reward is being gratefully remembered by
many, many dogs.
Cambridge 1983
Coleman traveled
to Spain in 1998
to help with the
issue of Irish
greyhounds that
were stranded
after the closing of
the Pabellon Track.
This was when she
met Anna Clements
and her husband
Albert Sorde. This trip was the inspiration and support needed to help them launch SOSGALGOS which they have built into a large non-profit organization that helps galgos through education and action in the media.
Two Galgos from Spain
Louise Coleman starting working in Ireland 1995 with animal welfare activist Marion Fitzgibbon who was at the time head of the Irish SPCA. Marion became very interested in greyhound adoption and advocacy and is an outspoken advocate for their welfare. She is now president of Limerick Animal Welfare.
Louise Coleman marches with Greyhound Rescue Association of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland 2012
Verdict "Not Guilty"
Please follow us on Facebook for updates and historical information
Here are the links for the two major documentaries we produced.
Ireland
“The Magpie and the Crow”
By John Mottern
Argentina
“Crime to be Born”
By John Mottern
Kennel
“What Goes Around, Comes Around”
By Dave Smith
To support Louise with the cost of this book send a paypal friends and family to louisecoleman10@aol.com
This is a for profit book not associated with the non-profit status of any organization.
To see the full transcript from my Massachusetts trial please go to the news page above
