Linda Jensen
Linda Jensen, greyhound racing’s 2010 Greyhound Adoption Person of the Year, passed away suddenly Nov. 5 at her home in Plainfield, CT, after a brief illness. She was 63.
Linda, an NGA member and industry advocate (she was very much involved with the POWAAH organization in Massachusetts), had spent more than 20 years leading the effort to find adoptive homes for retired racing greyhounds. Her GAPY award, bestowed by the American Greyhound Council, was presented to her last February in Las Vegas.
Those who’d nominated Jensen for that award cited her “unrelenting persistence in organizing, facilitating and coordinating” the movement of retired greyhounds from tracks and farms to greyhound adoption programs.
Among Ms. Jensen’s many contributions, she led an effort to ensure that funds from the Massachusetts Greyhound Welfare Trust would be used to support adoption programs, and for several years spearheaded Greyhound Adoption Expo events at Massachusetts and New Hampshire tracks to educate adoption volunteers about track and kennel operations.
In 2005, she played a key role in the successful placement of hundreds of retired greyhounds when Plainfield Greyhound Park permanently ended live racing. Later, she coordinated the movement of hundreds more greyhounds into adoption programs after a state referendum shut down Massachusetts tracks.
Ms. Jensen’s own adoption organization was known as ROAR (Racing Owners Assisting Racers, Inc.).
Ms. Jensen was born in Germany, a daughter of the late Travis and Elizabeth (Repper) Austin and had resided in Plainfield since 1980. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from South Dakota State University and her Masters from Texas A&M.
“For years, Linda was one of the unsung heroes of the greyhound adoption community,” said NGA director Gary Guccione. “Linda always put the greyhounds first. She worked tirelessly to improve communication between adoption groups and the racing community, building trust and confidence between all the players for the ultimate benefit of the dogs. She was truly one of a kind, and she’ll be dearly missed.”
Ms. Jensen is survived by her sons, Rider Jensen of Greenwood Village, Co., John Jensen of Plainfield, and Robert Hartwell, who Linda thought of as her third son; one brother, Tom Austin of Aurora, Co.; three sisters, Ann Horrar of Kentucky, Wendy Ingbretson of Bennett, Co., and Mary Martin of Houston; also many nieces and nephews.
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