Moyston couple Rosalie and Peter Franklin were simply a wind change away from devastation last weekend as bush fires threatened their home town, located 220 kilometres west of Melbourne near Ararat.
With fires burning within five kilometres of their home, the Franklins were due to race four of their greyhounds at Warrnambool on Saturday, a prospect that was creating them plenty of stress.
Enter GRV’s Member Services Department and the Warrnambool Greyhound Racing Club.
“On Saturday we received a call from Kate (Williams) from GRV checking on our welfare, as she had heard that there were fires in our area,” Rosalie said.
“Her timing was perfect, and as such she organised for our three greyhounds not competing on the night to come with us to Warrnambool where they were housed in the trial kennels.”
“It’s a stressful time of year for a lot of people in regional areas because of bush fires. You have to consider roadblocks and other things and the last thing we want is for something terrible to happen to our greyhounds because they are beautiful creatures and they are fully dependant on us.”
“Luckily the fire was travelling away from us, but it was still very close and a change of wind direction would have put us right in the line of fire.”
“It’s so important to be well prepared and to act quickly in these situations.”
Despite the stress, the night turned out to be a successful one for the Franklins.
“We were fortunate to have a winner and a third on the night,” Peter recalled.
“Michael (Cottee) & Fiona (Umbers) at Warrnambool were very helpful as they provided accommodation for our three additional greyhounds (two retirees & one recovering from injury) while we raced the four competing on the night.”
“We arrived home safely, at Moyston by 2am, after being turned away at one road block, by taking a longer route on a gravel road.”
Greyhound participants are urged to prepare as best they can for bushfires and to contact Greyhound Racing Victoria’s Member Services Department and/or their local greyhound club IMMEDIATELY should their home be under any sort of threat by fire.
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GRV Member Services: (03) 8329 1100
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Club Directory: Click Here
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Note: Clubs can assist with the accommodation of greyhounds at race meetings or otherwise.
