The Northern Consortium

The Northern Consortium (“NoCo”) was founded five ½  years ago by Linda Cliffel and Barbara Karant, in Chicago, Illinois, in partnership with Ann Bollens, Executive Director of GPA Emerald Coast. The goal was to move pets from the Florida Panhandle greyhound tracks at Ebro, Pensacola, and Monticello (“JCKC”) to adoption groups in the Midwest.   The premise was new: a unique “consortium” of adoption groups, in different states, would all work together to bring dogs to their programs and adoptive homes in the Midwest.

The NoCo from its inception has worked in tandem, and with the support of The Greyhound Alliance to accomplish its goals. 

The NoCo quickly grew, with adoption groups in Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin all joined together to move the Panhandle retiring racers. 

Since those early days, moving a dozen dogs at a time with volunteer drivers, the NoCo has progressed to today’s hauls, bringing 50 dogs at a time from the Panhandle, and has expanded to include moving dogs from the tracks at Mobile and Birmingham, Alabama, as well.

The NoCo has moved more than 900 pets from the Panhandle since its founding.  A record breaking 421 greyhounds moved on NoCo hauls in 2010. 

When Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha, Wisconsin, closed in 2009, the NoCo committed to follow Dairyland racers that moved to Florida tracks, and working with The Greyhound Alliance, made it a mission to bring former Dairyland racers back to the Midwest for adoption.  More than 100 of those racers have been brought “back home” to retire. 

Today, 13 of the country’s greyhound tracks are in Florida, and the mission remains the same:  for every retiring racer to have a well deserved and bright future in retirement.

Linda Cliffel
Coordinator, The Northern Consortium
lindacliffl@att.net