Most of you have never heard of him, but he is as important to the Southern California greyhound rescue movement as is anyone. Phil Epler lives the motto "do it for the dogs" better than most. Phil is a long time Hemopet volunteer and employee as well as an important part of the Needle Nose Crew. Phil met us at a show and tell back at the beginning of the Needle Nose Crew activities and started volunteering at the Hemopet Garden Grove facility shortly thereafter. Like most of us, Phil soon fell for "that special dog". In his case it was Alyeska, a very high energy, little brindle girl. Early on Phil would come in to Hemopet on weekends and walk as many dogs as needed to be walked, sometimes staying for hours. Once Phil retired from his "real job" it was time to really get busy. He became a kennel attendant at Garden Grove facility and spent his days tending to the needs of the eighty or so dogs in residence. It was not long before another special girl caught his eye. Her name is Heidi, and she was to become the second greyhound in the Epler household. Phil has proven to be a great help to the Needle Nose Crew by joining in at many show and tells and community events over the years. Yet more importantly, Phil’s computer skills have proved invaluable. Both the Hemopet Garden Grove website and the Needle Nose Crew website are of Phil’s design. Phil is also responsible for North Coast Greyhound Support’s website, our friends to the north. Then, Phil decided to be a Canine Causes’ foster home. B.J., Phil’s first foster dog, was so wonderful Phil decided to keep him too! This foster dog thing had the potential of getting out of control, and with three dogs already, Phil decided web-page design was probably safer. In any case, three lucky greyhounds found a very good home. Unfortunately for us, Phil and his wife, Toni, have decided to move to Nevada and really retire this time. Those of us that have worked with them will miss Phil, Toni, Aly, Heidi and B.J. We wish you all well with your new adventure. Thanks for all you have done for the Needle Nose Crew, the greyhounds and PLEASE - Keep In Touch. We don’t want to miss out on hearing of the continuing adventures of traveling with your pack.

When I was ready to make a definite commitment to adopt a greyhound, I asked which grey was the most unadoptable. The answer was Natacha. She was so shy and frightened that she would do a lot a barking and I guess that scared a lot of people away. We’ve had Natacha for five years now, but it took two years before she would trust anyone but me. Two years ago we moved to our present home in Rogue River, Oregon, and she really started coming out of her shyness and fear. Natacha has made many human friends. Maybe it’s the fresh clean air and living in the country on five acres. It is a wonderful pleasure to see her running and playing. Natacha is now a very happy grey and we love her so much.

The golden rule of adoption coordinators is "don’t pick your dog by color, find a personality in tune to your own or better yet let the greyhound pick you. You’ll know when things are meant to be." Now that I’ve said that, let me present my case in favor of the often over-looked "blacks". Hopefully I can do so without totally contradicting myself. I have used this statistic before but it is one that bears repeating. An adult male, black dog has a 2% chance of being adopted. The fact that he is purebred or sweet-tempered or "wonderful with children" helps very little. A black dog’s fate is cast simply because he is black! Now, I cannot speak for all breeds of course, but there is something very special about black greyhounds, regardless of age or sex. A fellow volunteer once told me when I was still very new at this that she believed that black greyhounds were born with an extra "love gene" because so many of them seemed to be so huggable and even-tempered. This comment has stayed with me over the years and has proven true more often than not. "Blacks" are very special and there are many long-term volunteers and adoption coordinators that agree with me. As I think back on all the wonderful greyhounds I have met, I must confess that my view is a bit slanted in favor of the "blacks". It seems as if my greyhound journey has been guided by a succession of black dogs. For example, though I have always been drawn to the long artful lines of the sighthounds, it is an amazing black greyhound named Magic that really "sealed the deal" for me. Magic lives with Joyce and Tom McRorie of GPA and truly lives up to his name. I cannot tell you how many greys have found homes due to Magic’s "influence". My journey then led me to Hemopet and the wonderful basket case Jeremy. Jeremy was afraid of everything; he spent his days curled up as tightly as he could get. Jeremy wanted to be loved and hugged and babied just like the "normal guys" but his fear was bigger than he was. A lot of work, love and emotion went into bringing Jeremy around and he will always be my "lovable nut". Jeremy has a great life now as one of Sheila Budd’s housedogs out at the Hemopet retirement facility. As an employee of Hemopet, there were several dogs that were very special to me. When you work with animals on a one-to-one basis day after day, you have the privilege of earning a degree of trust the volunteers do not usually attain. Not surprisingly, many of my "kids" were of the ebony persuasion. My heart was completely stolen by a big, black soft -spoken boy named Ace. Ace and I spent a lot of time together. He needed the extra attention and I simply loved him to death. Ace was the dog that just about nobody is looking for, a large black, very shy male. This was both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because we could be together and bad because he needed to be placed in a nice quiet home before any real progress could be made. I wanted to bring Ace home in the worst way, but like Jeremy before him, I was not in the position to do so. So what does one do? Sucker some friends into taking him! IT WORKED!!! Sharon and Dick Lehman adopted Ace, and though never outgoing, Ace did indeed blossom. Unfortunately, the Lehmans lost Ace due to kidney failure a few years ago. I still miss him so much that it can bring me to tears. Ace holds a huge piece of my heart and will stay with me always. Though no longer a Hemopet employee, I still visit and continue to find some standouts. Lady (this dog is perfect - and she needs a home), Dar, my elegant and reserved Thomas, Cloud and my latest lovable basket case Postal, all black and all super special. Add to this my two favorite dark angels, Soffie and Chanel, and you have the "Who’s Who of Love Muffins". If you can find it in your heart to take home another greyhound please pay a visit to Hemopet (Irvine). There are some really wonderful dogs waiting for a special someone. And please keep the black guys in mind, they are worth getting to know, but be warned, they are very good at stealing hearts!

I am in the greyt position, as a foster home, of getting to know some wonderful greyhounds. I also am very attracted to the "blacks". Some of my favorite greyhounds, fosters and otherwise, are black. Sylvester (Chip) was so shy that it took several days and repeated tries just to complete the walk to the end of the street. Now he is reportedly happiest tossing toys (and pillows) around the house. Lovely Reanna, who looks so old with her gray muzzle, has a wonderful young soul. My whole household would have been happy to have her stay. When Brian (Rupert) came to us, we had been told that at the track they had to put a leash on him just to get him out of his crate. He is a true spook, and reminds me very much of Jeremy. I would sit on the floor beside him, and just stroke and pet him. The first time he greeted me with a tail wag is a moment I will remember forever. I have so many wonderful memories of fosters and other greyt blacks. I’d fill several newsletter if I tried to list them all, but here are a few: Monte - who will knock you over because he just has to have someone to lean against; Izzy - who loves whispers; goofy Rudi and Joy - another treasured tail wag; gentle Dodger; Stone - the most sure-footed greyhound, even at 90 pounds; sweet little Holli; Zorro - another big scaredy cat, who thinks I’m a hero for "protecting" him from small dogs. And a beautiful black boy captured my heart when I was at the track in Tucson for the Greyhound Adoption League reunion in April. ‘Get Pacific’ is still racing but I have hopes that we’ll meet again in the future.

• Denaire Rigney and Vic Walker for the tragic loss of Starla.
• Ralph and Leigh Siemion for their loss of Dax.
• Irv and Shirley Kornfeld for their loss of Pawley.