Ireland's leading "blood" hound will become a supermodel today when he leads out some of the world's top models at a glitzy New York fashion show on the eve of St Patrick's Day.
Ten-year-old greyhound Banjo flew out to the US last month after spending most of his life as a blood donor in Dublin's veterinary hospital in Ballsbridge.
He was hailed as a hero because of the number of canine cousins his blood has saved in his eight years as a donor.
In a last outing before he retires to a home in Boston, Banjo will lead the models down the catwalk in the Greyhounds Go Glamorous show on Madison Avenue.
Models and dogs will each wear their own matching one-of-a-kind creations. Some of the hottest designers and fashion houses, including Louis Vutton, Gucci, Savoa, Fiorucci and Helmut Lang, have donated haute couture outfits.
After the show, the canine coats are auctioned in aid of the charity Greyhound Friends.
"We will make sure Banjo is wearing green; he will be the star of the show," said Ms Louise Coleman, who heard about Banjo's retirement as a donor when attending an International Greyhound Welfare Forum meeting in Dublin.
She is executive director of Greyhound Friends in Massachusetts and has already adopted three Irish dogs which were "retired" after a career on the racetrack.
The charity arranges adoptions for almost 1,000 greyhounds a year and she can't understand why they are not more popular as pets in Ireland.
Limerick-based Ms Marion Fitzgibbon, president of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said there was a bigger demand for greyhounds as pets abroad, but it was an uphill struggle getting them accepted in Ireland.