The gentle whippet

By Nicholas Li

There’s a reason so many people love whippets.

Jessica is a model example of the whippet breed – gentle and calm. She strides around the docks with a minimum of fuss.

The three-year-old makes the most of the acres of space at NewQuay, darting from point to point, searching for something new to investigate.

Jessica is extremely fit. Her hobbies include going for runs, the occasional bike ride (at least, following the bike) and chasing the resident rabbit population of Docklands.

With elite pace at her disposal, you would not want to be one of those rabbits.

Owner, 22-year-old Darwin Fernandes (an apt name for an animal lover), moved to Melbourne three years ago.  All smiles, you’d be hard struck to find a more friendly pair taking advantage of the unseasonably warm mid-April weather.

Darwin works as a blood collector at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He would like to see more parks and green areas for Jessica to play in, despite the adequate space around NewQuay.