Story by Krista Martinelli
In the year 2000, Barbara Masi adopted her first greyhound. This was just the beginning of her involvement with the breed. She adopted more and more greyhounds, then realized how beneficial they are as therapy dogs and service dogs.
Masi served as event chair and then president of Greyhound Pets of America, but something new was brewing. She disagreed with the organization, as she could see that greyhounds had great potential as full service dogs. She argued, “They are born and bred as working dogs.”
In 2011, Masi founded Awesome Greyhound Adoptions and Hounds & Heroes. “The temperament of a retired racer is unbelievable,” says Masi. “They are loving, quiet, peaceful animals.” They are an ideal breed for therapy dogs and service dogs. The purpose was to adopt more greyhounds and to train full-service dogs. “We are the only totally breed specific program that fully donates the dogs to veterans and first responders,” says Masi.
There are many things to love about greyhounds. “The beauty of them when they walk or run. They are magnificent. Also, they do very little shedding. You look into their eyes and it’s hard to say no to them,” says Masi.
She is passionate about the Hounds & Heroes component, matching the right greyhound to a veteran or first responder who is in need of a service dog. Just to clarify, service dogs are trained to assist one individual while therapy dogs go on visits to nursing homes, hospitals, etc. There are many grateful recipients of service dogs.
Here’s what Rose Wilson has to say (in December of 2025).
Have you ever given to a charity or a cause and wondered if they really got any of the donations? Have you wondered if it made a real difference in the world? Well…. wonder no more. Give what you can, any amount will help.
Awesome Greyhounds Adoptions and Hounds and Heroes serves the first responders and veterans in our community and other communities. They have made a big difference in my husband’s life. He is a disabled veteran who sacrificed and served to protect the American people, who suffers daily from PTSD.
Awesome Greyhounds Adoptions Hounds and Heroes took the time, money, efforts, love and support to find the perfect greyhound and train Tonka for my husband. Tonka is a great fit and provides support as well as braces for my husband when he can’t get up by himself.
Here’s what Jason Parker has to say (in February of 2025).
Hawk is the light of my life and one of the reasons I’m still here… plus through our travels he and I have been to DC, met the chief of staff and regularly sits right next to me when I do speeches and lectures on suicide prevention for military commands and for high profile technology companies that employ Veterans. Hawk has been a) the reason I can even attend these events and b) the most well-trained gentleman. When I’m asked about his origin, I always sing Awesome Greyhound Adoptions’ praises!
I asked Barbara Masi about the decision to ban greyhound racing in Florida and how it’s affected Awesome Greyhound Adoptions. “We are a proud greyhound group, totally pro-racing. These dogs are treated like kings and queens.”
There were 11 tracks when racing was closed – each with approximately 700 dogs in residence. That comes to a HUGE number of dogs being displaced. They were ALL taken care of – either by going to other tracks to race or to greyhound volunteer adoption groups throughout the country. None of the greyhounds went to any public shelters as AGA is a “community that is dedicated to taking care of our own.”
Masi says they are always in need of volunteers for a number of things, including running events, transport and fostering. “The hardest part of fostering them is letting go.”
Masi is a strong woman. She was injured a few years ago on the job. Today she is in a wheelchair. She says, “I can still run the organization. Actually, it would kill me not to do it. I’m thankful to God that my brain is working well enough to run the organization. It takes a lot of different skills.” She has a big family with 5 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. At one point she had as many as 7 dogs living with her. Now she just has one.
The organization has placed over 50 service dogs since 2011, all with veterans or first responders. You can get involved with Awesome Greyhound Adoptions and Hounds & Heroes. There are many ways to help. And tomorrow (4/12/2026), you can eat at Texas Roadhouse between 11:30am and 3pm and 10% goes to AGA. Just mention Awesome Greyhound Adoptions to your server.
Would you like to donate?
Donations accepted through Zelle 561-737-1941 or PayPal awesomegreyhoundadoptions@gmail.com
Individual donations are much appreciated and corporate support is always encouraged.
Awesome Greyhound Adoptions
Visit awesomegreyhoundadoptions.org
Call (561) 537-0501
Email awesomegreyhoundadoptions@gmail.com
