Winston Kicking Cancers Tail

Winston’s (aka Fuzzys Winfield) Story

Written by Veldie Duval

I met my first greyhound in 1996. Her name was Snowball and she was a retired racer. I was smitten! I knew one day I would have to have a retired greyhound. I carried that desire with me for 23 years. With my only son preparing to graduate high school and head to college I decided it was time to get my dream dog. 

We adopted Winston on April 6, 2019 which was the day before his second birthday. He was fresh off the track at Daytona, FL. He had suffered some kind of injury to his back right leg, so his race owner decided to let him retire instead of risk permanent damage. Luckily we have never seen any indication of an injury. When he came to live with us we had to acclimate him to living in a house. He had spent his whole life living in the racing kennels. Thankfully he was kennel trained, so housebreaking him was not an issue. The ceiling fan and television however were scary to him. He is wicked smart though and adjusted rather quickly. We could tell that he had been treated very well by his race owner and kennel staff because he was trusting and showed no nervousness of new people. He acted like everyone he met was a long lost friend! I think he missed his old life at first to be honest. I am sure our house was quite boring compared to the excitement of the track. Having always been a part of a greyhound colony I am sure he also missed having so many dogs around. We did have a dachshund mix named Easy at the time and Winston adored him. When we lost Easy at the age of 17 we had to get Winston another brother and that’s how we came to be the parents of Truman. Truman is a chihuahua/west highland terrier cross who gives Winston a run for his money. 

Winston enjoys going for car rides more than anything else. He goes out to dinner with us, loves attending festivals, dressing up in costume, and visiting patients in a local nursing home. He also enjoys going to my son’s running club with him. He thrives on attention and the more people around the happier he is. 

Winston was diagnosed with osteosarcoma on February 7th, 2025. X-rays showed that his lungs were clear so we immediately started preparing for amputation and chemotherapy treatments. I learned about The Greyhound Health Initiative research project taking place at UPENN from a person in my greyhound group and knew that I wanted him to be a part of it. I wanted something positive to come from what was so devastating to our family. If he could possibly help with developing a treatment to help not only canines, but humans as well I wanted to make sure that happened. Winston had his right front leg removed on February 13th at Louisiana State University Veterinary School. He had his first chemotherapy treatment on February 26th. Actually, he is having it as I type his bio. 

I am so thankful for my husband, Brent, who has supported me and Winston 100% on this journey. We are praying for many more years with this special boy. Winston is everything that I dreamed of for 23 years and so much more. He has exceeded every expectation I had about sharing life with a greyhound. He spreads joy everywhere he goes.