Greyhound who bit DD seems to have been rehomed with another family

[GreyhoundRescueDisaster]

Name changed for this.

We adopted a greyhound from a breed specific rescue several months ago. We had DCs and had never had a dog before. We were very clear with the rescue about this. We had only had him a short time when he bit teenage DD in the face while she was stroking him on the sofa. There was no warning and it was totally unprovoked. He had previously snapped close to my face while I was putting his collar on. My DD had scarring to her face which thankfully has healed well. If the bite had been a few mm lower he would have directly damaged her eyeball, and I guess she would have risked permanent damage to her sight.

We returned him to the rescue. The rescue owner wanted to euthanase him the next day because he now had 'a taste for blood' - but we wanted him to be fully assessed before that decision was taken. We paid for a physical exam with a specialist vet and said to the rescue that he needed to be assessed be a behaviouralist vet. We then handed him to a racing industry trainer on the instructions of the rescue.

So today - for some reason - I looked at the greyhound rescue website. I saw the greyhound listed as one of their recently rehomed dogs. I found a description for him. It is basically the original listing that we saw with new photos and an extra paragraph added. The new paragraph says he needs 'firm boundaries' because he is a young dog, 'would respect an experienced greyhound owner' and 'would enjoy the company of older children'. The rest of the listing is ultra-cutesy. He has a 'sunny disposition', 'behaved perfectly', 'happy go lucky nature' and 'a huge, happy personality which makes everyone he meets feel happy'.

What can I do about this? If he has been fully assessed and somehow rehabilitated then that's good.... but surely he should not be offered as a dog suitable for children?? I cannot imagine that the rescue will have been honest with prospective adopters about his history - there is nothing in the listing that even hints that this might be a difficult dog - because surely no family with children would consider a dog that has bitten a child in the face. Obviously, there is no saying that he has been rehomed with children - but it's definitely possible. What should I do?

Thanks

I’ve just gone through this myself .... I’ve rescued precious grey hounds & lurchers and all settled in perfectly (very easy) until I rescued a 2 year old lurcher x saluki. I did intense research on Salukis as I know they can be a bit “wild”, but we still decided to rescue him. We saw him on the Friday and the rescue centre said they would do a “drive by” and we could collect him on the Sunday. They told us he was good with other dogs, great with children & brilliant in the car .... all those he wasn’t good with. Rewind a few weeks later and he started showing signs of aggression snapping, growling and lunging to him attacking my grandmother who the rescue centre knew would be watching him during the day. Phoned the centre and told him we need to rehome him to be told “if you do it’s more than likely he’s being put him to sleep” which absolutely broke my heart, it was hard enough handing him back but to be told that just made it even worse. Partner took the choice out of my hands and just took him back ... I was out walking the other day and I saw him on a pack walk with the rescue centre, clearly they hadn’t put him to sleep. It’s hate the guilt they make you feel, it’s as if your bored of having a new dog ... I felt horrific enough that I “failed” in having him 🐶

The taste for blood comment is ludicrous but I have to say this is precisely why I would personally never rehome a human aggressive dog and would PTS.

You can't guarantee they won't be put in the same situation again and for me, I couldn't live with the guilt if someone was seriously injured and I knew the dog was aggressive.

I think all I can do is acknowledge that it wasn't your fault, be on and try not to think about it

My greyhound sometimes air snaps when she’s excited or trying to tell us something. She has growled when people have disturbed her whilst sleeping too. Her ways of showing you she’s had enough can be quite subtle and it’s been a steep learning curve for us and her. I think greyhounds can have quite complex characters especially because of their upbringing. I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you and that your daughter was hurt.