The greyhound is one of the oldest breeds of dog and was once owned exclusively by royalty. In more recent times, these beautiful, gentle creatures have been bred for racing and often cruelly discarded if they did not make the grade or had to be retired because of age or an injury.

One local charity is trying to help improve the prospects of these dogs.

Sally McMullen set up Greyhound Aid League Isle of Man with her husband Ian. She brought Lottie, Molly and Holly - all in their festive jumpers and jingle bells collars - into the newspaper offices to meet us.

Lottie and Holly immediately make friends with everybody but Molly stays close to Sally, shivering a little: ’She’s very nervous, especially of men - you can only guess what might have happened to her in the past.’

Sally goes on to explain why greyhounds in particular often find themselves looking for adoptive homes: ’The greyhound industry is a big industry and the breeding is a big industry - 10,000 a year are bred. A lot are bred in Ireland and shipped to England.

’Then they’ll be taken by trainers and owners who will select the best dogs and the rest of them are discarded so there’s a huge surplus.’

Sally never intended to get a greyhound but a chance remark changed everything: ’It hadn’t occurred to me till we lost our other dogs then my dad said to me: "What about a greyhound?"

’So Missy arrived and she was amazing and she was the inspiration to set up the charity. It really because we wanted to put something back: having got Missy we learned a lot about what happens with other greyhounds and we wanted to do something about it.’

Greyhound Aid League Isle of Man is dedicated to the rescue and rehoming of greyhounds. Sally says: ’We started fundraising to bring greyhounds to the island and find homes for them here and we’ve grown over the years so that this year - 2017 - we managed to rehome 17 dogs here.’

She goes on to explain how the process works: ’We have a few contacts in England we’ll provide them with the details of the home the dog is to go to, whether it’s a home with children or cats or whatever.

’We then speak to our contacts in the UK to give them an outline of the home on the island and they look for a dog that will be compatible with that family home and. We don’t just bring them and hope for the best because it’s expensive and time-consuming. We try and make sure that they are perfectly matched.’

Greyhounds are known for their gentle, laidback natures. Sally explains that this is no accident but is down to their breeding. They are bred for speed, of course, but also temperament: ’because you can’t have them scrapping on the racetrack’.

They also require a lot less exercise that you might imagine. ’They’re bred to be sprinters so they’ll have a few minutes of running about and playing and then they’re quite relaxed after that and they’ll spend the rest of the day sleeping.’

She adds that greyhounds also have one unique quirk. ’In racing kennels they have a shelf at one end with some newspaper and straw for their bed. Whenever they see something that looks the same height they think that must be their bed so they always gravitate to a sofa and they will lie on their backs with all four legs in the air and they will stay like that for hours - if you have greyhounds you have to be quick to get a seat!’

Although Sally stresses that the charity tries to focus on the positive aspects of helping greyhounds she says they are aware that many of the dogs will never find a loving home: ’There’s such a huge number of dogs that are no longer required and they’re used in all kinds of ways that dogs shouldn’t be used in. Sometimes they’re shipped off to Spain, China or Pakistan, sometimes they go into laboratories.

’There is that very dark side to the racing industry that once they’re surplus to requirements many of them disappear without trace. All greyhounds are tattooed in their ears and very often they’re found dumped with their ears cut off so they can’t be traced back to their previous owners.’

All this time Sally’s greyhounds, having said ’hello’ and had their photographs taken, have been lying placidly beside her. When it’s time to go they jump to their feet and trot after her, jingle bells jingling, and you can’t help hoping that more like them will face a happy future rather than one of exploitation. If you think you could give a home to a greyhound, or may a donation to help with the charity’s rehoming costs, you can contact Sally on 816612 or [email protected].