Neal was a real dog that raced at the Multnomah Greyhound Park near Portland, Oregon 33 times from 8/25/00 to 10/11/01. He had a respectable racing career with a few place finishes. He lived to be 10 years old.
On the carousel he is life-sized and an outside-row animal, sporting green racing silk and the numeral ‘5’. Three cliff swallows fly alongside him to show his speed.
When Neal retired, he was adopted by Ted and Rita Powell. He was the 7th of 9 greyhounds they have rescued and their 3rd “repo.” Repos are dogs that were adopted, and for some reason returned and adopted out again. He was underfed, had a rough coat, sad eyes, and was not an indoor dog, probably because he was afraid of smooth floors. The Powells added carpet runners in their home so that he could get around.
Due to an infection Neal had to have a toe removed from his right front foot. Neal’s carver at the carousel created a wooden right foot to match.
