Issue Three- January 2020:
By Mercedes Barreto
Christine Dorchak, President of GREY2KUSA, and her dog, Kelsey, have beat the odds against a city train heading straight towards them both, surviving a potential head-on collision, a coma, their chance at survival only thanks to Christine’s dog, Kelsey, herself.
How would you summarize, in detail, what happened the day Kelsey saved your life? Guide us through what happened that day.
“My love of dogs was brought home to me in a startling way. In 1992, I was
struck by a speeding city train while walking my dog, Kelsey. She was a one-year-old Black Russian Terrier whom I had adopted on her very last day at a kill shelter in Massachusetts. Just as I had saved her life, she saved mine by pulling me away from the direct path of the trolley and sparing me from certain death under its wheels. We both suffered terrible physical injuries and I promised that if I should ever be able to walk again, I would devote my life to helping dogs. We spent the next two years in recovery and then we began a new life, as a team, in the humane movement. Sadly, I lost her just days after graduating from law school in 2005. Kelsey was fifteen and she had stayed by my side during the most difficult years of my life.”
At what point did you start to realize what was starting to unfold?
“Thanks to lifesaving surgeons, I survived my violent MBTA encounter and was able to not only WALK AGAIN but to RUN MARATHONS! My mother had been told to expect the worst and was warned that people rarely survive the kind of trauma I had experienced. Even if I would beat the odds, I would likely need supervision and care for the rest of my life.
Well, I must have heard this even as I lay in a coma because when I awoke, the first thing I said was “How’s Kelsey” and then attempted to get out of the hospital bed to find her! Within months, I was released to a rehab facility. Kelsey underwent a hip replacement operation, and we began our long journey of healing together. I had sustained such severe head trauma and I was never to regain any clear memory of my life pre-accident. All I could remember when I opened my eyes again was my dog. She became my anchor in a new and mysterious world of disability, confusion, and fear. But this was not the end for me. Instead, it was a new beginning. At the age of 26, I started all over again.”
When you were going through that moment of terror in time, what thoughts ran through your head?
“Several years after my accident, and just as I was becoming independent again, I learned that thousands of greyhounds were suffering and dying at two dog tracks in my state. I knew I had to do something to help them and realized that this was the opportunity to fulfill my promise to dogs. Racing greyhounds are kept confined in warehouse-style kennels, inside small stacked cages for an average of twenty hours a day. Then, when they are let out to race, they suffer terrible injuries, and many die. They break their necks, their backs, and their legs, suffer head trauma and heart attacks. They are paralyzed and sometimes electrocuted – just so someone can place a $2 bet on them. I knew this was no way to treat a dog and that commercial greyhound racing had to be stopped. It occurred to me that I had been given a second chance and that the greyhounds deserved the same help!
In 2001, I co-founded GREY2K USA Worldwide with political strategist Carey Theil, who is now my husband. A minister named Tom Grey (yes GREY!) and veterinarian Dr. Jill Hopfenbeck served as our first board members. Our stated mission was to work to pass laws to protect greyhounds, educate the public about the cruelty of dog racing and promote the adoption of ex-racers – all with the ultimate goal of ending commercial racing. I started law school at the very same time so that we would have representation and so that we could write our own legislation. We watched every penny, kept expenses very low, and outlined the strategy that we still follow today. This careful approach has helped us to close down thirty American tracks and prevent the expansion of dog racing to countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica, and South Africa. In November 2018, we passed Amendment 13 in Florida, which will phase out dog racing in its biggest U.S. state. Eleven additional tracks will now wind down operations and thousands of dogs are released to adoption by December 2020. Since Kelsey died in 2005, I have adopted two female greyhounds, Zoe and Gina. They serve as reminders of just how important it is to keep working until all greyhounds get the second chance they deserve. I will be adopting a male greyhound named Brooklyn next month. He is one of the more than 50 surviving greyhounds we are now airlifting to safety from the Canidrome.”
When you regained consciousness from the derailment, what was the first thing that came to mind?
“I am grateful for every day because for me every moment is “extra.” I should have died many years ago, but instead, I was given the chance to try and make a difference. My greatest reward is the knowledge that I am helping to save the lives of greyhounds every day. Whether I am writing legislation, hosting an information table, or working one-on-one to help match a greyhound with a potential adopter, the personal satisfaction I feel is beyond words. In fact, anyone reading this who would like to help rescue a needy greyhound can go right to our adoption referral page at www.grey2kusa.org/adopt. As a longtime animal activist who volunteered for many campaigns over the years, the fight to end dog racing has made me realize that change is not only possible but it is inevitable. We can stop animal suffering and close down cruel industries if we only dedicate ourselves to achieving these goals.
Everyone has something to offer!”
