VOLUNTEERING

Volunteers are the life-blood of SEGA, and it requires a tremendous amount of individuals and labor-hours “behind the scenes” to receive the Greyhounds from the track, and to clean, feed, and care for the dogs prior to their adoption. You can get involved and assist our efforts to find these wonderful hounds good homes in a variety of ways.

Read more below about volunteer opportunities.

FOSTERING

A foster home is a temporary home for one of our Southeastern Greyhound Adoption (SEGA) Greyhounds awaiting adoption. Fostering is always one of our most critical need areas, and is one of the best things an individual and family can do to help SEGA, one Greyhound at a time. Fostering entails welcoming a hound into your home on a temporary basis to help start its acclimation to its new life as a family pet. Most of our homes have their foster hound between two days to seven weeks, depending on the type of fostering assignment. Visit our Foster page to learn more.

HOUND WALKING

Southeastern Greyhound Adoption is one of the most fortunate Greyhound adoption groups in the country to have a wonderful and modern kennel facility for many of our hounds while they await forever homes. The SEGA kennel is within an animal hospital in Acworth, Georgia. The animal hospital staff cares for the SEGA kennel hounds during the day and SEGA hound walking volunteers assist with the last walking, clean up, and playtime of the evening.

By caring for the dogs during their stay in Atlanta volunteers help

  • SEGA save money by not having to employ evening hound walkers; and
  • the Screening and Placement Committee learn more about the hounds from walker feedback and antidotes, thus assisting with the proper placement of the right hound for the right home.

Our volunteers walk the dogs daily between the hours of 6 and 9 p.m. Walks usually take about 1 to 2 hours. Hound walkers must be 18 years of age. SEGA hound walkers can walk dogs one night a week, one evening a month, or as seldom as one evening a quarter. For a limited time commitment, you are able to get actively involved with the dogs and help care for these wonderful creatures while we work to find them a new home. Hound walkers usually work in pairs, so feel free to recruit a friend or family member to join you for some special bonding with hounds and humans alike!

If you are interested in hound walking, visit our Contact Us page and select Hound Walking Inquiry.

RUNNING MATES

The Running Mates program is designed to:

  • Provide new adopters with an experienced Greyhound owner for post-adoption support;
  • Create a “friendly face” for new adopters that will:
    • Welcome new Greyhound owners to many of the benefits and events SEGC offers;
    • Reach out to their Running Mate to invite them to events and meetings; and
    • Look for their Running Mate at events to introduce them to other SEGC/SEGA individuals to help build and support club camaraderie.

Running Mates are expected to:

  • Contact their Running Mate within three days of being assigned to introduce themselves; and
  • Try to stay in occasional contact with their Running Mate and invite them to a couple of events and/or meetings they are planning to attend.

Other information about the program:

  • To be a Running Mate, you need to have owned an adopted Greyhound for at least one year;
  • We will provide new adopters with a brief explanation sheet in their adoption packet letting them know that they will be assigned a Running Mate for additional support. This way they will be expecting a call; and
  • If your Running Mate is experiencing significant behavioral or transition issues, visit our Contact Us page and select Post-Adoption Support.

To those who have volunteered to be Running Mates, thanks for volunteering! Running Mates is a great way to help SEGC/SEGA and meet other great people that also love Greyhounds! Enjoy the program and the friendships it can help form.

If you are interested in being a Running Mate or want more information, visit our Contact Us page and select Running Mate Inquiry.

DOG BATHING AND TRANSPORTATION

We need volunteers to help with dog washing, and occasionally with picking the dogs up from the tracks in Florida or a pickup point in south Georgia to bring them back to our kennel in Atlanta (a field trip!). These activities are done as required, so if you are flexible and want to get involved, let us know and we will put you on our list for when we have needs in this area.

The dog-washings occurs at our kennel in Acworth. We provide the supplies and you bring the love for the hounds and the labor. Processing new Greyhounds fresh from the racetrack is one of the most rewarding and heart-warming activities!

If you are interested in helping with these two ad hoc activities, visit our Contact Us page and select General Inquiry.

EVENTS

Another way to volunteer is through individual events, such as Greyfest or fundraising events such as lure coursing field trials. These volunteer opportunities are ideal for people that want to contribute, but cannot serve as a foster, dog walker, or at Meet & Greets. These activities generally require a time commitment of a four-hour shift when we have the event, so for as little as four hours a year, you can help SEGA!

Lure coursing field trials are also an exciting way to volunteer, see the dogs run, and enjoy the fundraising lunches on the field that raise money for SEGA. The field trials are currently held four weekends a year, in October, December, January and March.

Visit our events calendar for a current event listing. If you are interested in helping at events, visit our Contact Us page and select General Inquiry.

SEGA LEADERSHIP SUPPORT

We can assure you that behind every Greyhound we place there is a team of dedicated SEGA volunteers chairing committees to do all of the work to support these activities. Most of these roles are not very glamorous and requires a fair amount of time and administrative effort. If you are the sort of individual that will work hard for pay in doggy kisses and hugs, you are dependable, and can continually perform roles that are challenging, than you are just the sort of person we could use to help one of our committee chairs. If you are interested in helping the SEGA Advisory Board, visit our Contact Us page and select General Inquiry.

VOLUNTEER PROVISO

Being a volunteer for any non-profit, including SEGA, can never be considered a thankless job. However, many times our volunteers and committee leaders are quite busy and cannot begin to spend the amount of time necessary thanking everyone for their time and efforts helping with our passions. Please know that every penny and every minute spent volunteering and helping SEGA in furtherance of its mission is very much appreciated and respected! Of course, the thanks that we receive for volunteering with SEGA comes in the form of face licks and Greyhound smiles! Overall, we need to encourage volunteers to help the hounds, because of the shared passion to help find a home for EVERY hound with us!