Every home where a companion animal resides has countless tales of comfort, companionship, and unspoken understanding. The animals we live with, especially dogs, become family. We love them fiercely and are driven to do everything in our power to make them happy and keep them healthy and safe.
When we open our hearts to one animal, a transformative journey begins. This journey often starts with the infectious warmth of a wagging tail or the soothing purr of a contented feline, but it soon extends far beyond the walls of our home. One pet can become a gateway to a more profound love and understanding of an entire species or the broader animal world.
Dogs and other animals also have a unique way of simplifying complex emotions and motives, bringing clarity to human endeavors and compelling us to act with compassion.
This is exactly what happened to us. First, decades ago, when Christine was walking her beloved dog, Kelsey, the two were hit by a speeding train. Kelsey had managed to pull them slightly off course, thus preventing a head-on collision and likely saving their lives.
When Christine awoke from her coma, her first words were, “How’s Kelsey?” Thankfully, though Kelsey had suffered a broken hip the day of the accident, she was to live until the age of fifteen, dying just a few days after Christine finished school in 2005.
Facing terrible memory loss and physical disability, Christine realized she had to forego her TV dreams. But with these challenges came a new sense of purpose. She promised that if she should ever recover from her injuries and walk again, she would devote her life to helping dogs. She went on to become an animal activist and met fellow animal activist Carey Theil. Together, we founded GREY2K USA — a non-profit organization battling to bring greyhound racing and its cruelties to an end.
In 2008, we saw a photo of a spotted greyhound from Australia named Brooklyn with large, expressive brown eyes who had been kept for years in a dark, empty concrete cell at the Yat Yuen Canidrome in China is the worst greyhound racing track in the world.
Upon seeing a photo of Brooklyn, we fell instantly in love with him and decided we wanted to adopt him. It took almost 6 years of tireless advocacy work, but the love in our hearts, paired with the simple question, “Would Brooklyn and the thousands of other dogs in his predicament want us to keep fighting?” kept us going through obstacles, setbacks, and failures.
Over the course of 20 years, we led a coalition of ordinary dog lovers in fighting the multi-billion dollar greyhound racing gambling industry — and won. Together, we brought greyhound racing in the US to an end. In 2018, we achieved the closing of the Canidrome of Macau. Christine and Carey then airlifted over 500 surviving dogs to freedom, including Brooklyn, who came home to live with us.
After coming home, Brooklyn’s health was poor, but we cherished every moment of the short years he was with us. We nursed and cared for him, pouring the same energy we continue to pour into helping greyhounds everywhere into his care.
Whether it’s a dog, cat, bird, or any other companion animal, their stories have the power to inspire, mobilize, and bring about lasting change. Through the pure, unconditional love between humans and pets, we find our purpose and the strength to persevere.
