Greyhound who refuses to race finds Stateside home

A greyhound who hates running around a track will instead be pursuing the American dream.

Rather than having the racing career for which she was bred, Kiki will swap Sunderland for California with her new family - jazz musicians Natalie Angst and Tomas Antonic.

Kik will accompany the couple, who are currently based in Germany, at their shows before snoozing at home on the couch.

Professional greyhound trainer Yvonne Bell, who bred and raised Kiki, said: "She'd play all day and chase a ball, but all she wanted was to be fussed by people. Not all of them have that instinct to chase - she was one of those that didn't really have it."

Kiki was one of a litter of seven, with most going on to race.

But when she was taken to the track for her trials, she stood out.

"You can feel it in the body when you've got hold of them," Bell explained. "She wasn't really fussed… she might jog after it [the hare], but she wasn't keen."

And so Kiki's path changed direction. Her temperament made it clear she was better suited to life as a pet.

Kiki was assessed to determine how she would behave in a domestic setting - proving to be calm and gentle, even around young children and other animals.

"She ticks every box," Bell added. "She's very, very loving."

Greyhound rehoming volunteer Andrew Isaac, from Home Run Hounds, said Kiki's story was not unusual.

"These dogs are often unraced for two reasons - either injury or they're simply not interested," he said. "Kiki just wasn't interested."

He explained that organisations like his worked to match dogs with the right owners, often sourcing animals from across the country.

"We're a bit like a dating agency for dogs," Isaac joked. "People come to us with what they're looking for, and we try to find the right fit!"

Kiki and the American couple were a match and she has been living with them in Germany for one month and will eventually accompany them in California when they return home in about two years' time.

Angst, 31, said: "We're both working musicians, and we do travel a lot. And we just knew that whatever dog we got needed to kind of fit in our lifestyle in that way."

The couple reached out to Home Run Hounds in the UK after their search abroad was unsuccessful.

"It was just love at first sight," said Angst, recalling their first meeting with Kiki.

"She was just like, so happy to see us."

Antonic, 30, said Kiki was leaning into him and showing him her "big brown puppy eyes".

He said that is when they decided she would be returning home with them.

Kiki loves to relax with her purple dinosaur, Snaggletooth.

"She just gets very curious about my guitars and just kind of pokes around, "Antonic added. "She just always wants to be near us."

Kiki also has her very own Instagram account where her profile reads "I would rather be friends with bunnies than chase them".

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