Trio of dogs "left for dead"

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Three greyhound dogs are lucky to be alive after they were abused and abandoned in Eddy County.

An animal service aid found a female greyhound in a barn, and two days later found another male greyhound and a puppy. Volunteers say they think all three dogs were used for hunting purposes.

"I would love for these dogs to be able to talk and tell us what they've been through because i'm sure we'd all be mortified," said Greyhound Companions of New Mexico Director Judy Paulsen.

"They said she's emaciated, we don't know if she's going to make it. She's not eating,” Paulson said as she described first finding out about the first dog, Tawnee who still shows signs of abuse.

GCNM says this is an all too common practice in New Mexico, especially the eastern portion of the state. Volunteers say the dogs are either brought in from race tracks or bred for racing here in New Mexico.

“It just doesn’t make sense to me that these dogs should be given away just because they’re expendable,” Paulson said.

Paulson says people, usually hunters, will get greyhounds and use them to hunt animals such as rabbits and coyotes. Adding that the greyhounds get injured because they’re not meant for hunting.

"It's further exploitation, They're exploited on the track to begin with," she said. "The hunting is the second time they're exploited only it's even worse because the hunters don't really call them back. They're left out there to die."

GCNM volunteers think the three dogs were in a similar situation, left out to die near Carlsbad, before they were picked up by a shelter. Now the group is looking for families to adopt the dogs.

“All of them can live in a home and learn to be a pet,” Paulson said. “And they crave it.”

For more on the Greyhound Companions of New Mexico, click here .