These two galgos were brought out of Spain by Amigos de Los Galgos early in the year.
They have been together in foster care since then, with Joanna Simm, and they are still waiting for their forever home.
Joanna tells their tale.
Two Gentle Knights who Suffered Much…
Meet two gentle knights from Spain, cute little don Quijote (below) and his big, sweet sidekick, Sancho (above). Just like in the old stories, these guys have been together through thick and thin…and they have seen more than their fair share of the thin end of life’s wedge than any of us would ever want to imagine.
One look at Sancho will tell the sorry story. Being a hunting galgo belonging to a gipsy in Madrid was not the most promising of starts in life, but for Sancho it just got worse. No one knows for sure what happened to him but by the time the rescuers became aware of him he had clearly been hung (his neck was showing the tell tale signs of being skinned raw by the ropes and wires used for this terrible act), burned all over his body with cigarettes, and kicked in the eye, causing a depressed fracture near the eye socket.
He was on the run…how he escaped is unknown, with his little pal, Quijote, who also bears the scars of a life of misuse and abuse. It took some time for Loli, who runs the Pedros Munoz refuge in Madrid , to get close enough to help these boys, such was their fear of mankind, but eventually she succeeded and they were taken in and nursed back to health.
Nuria Blanco , of Amigos de los Galgos, and Loli, decided to try to find a home that would keep these guys together, as they had endured so much together in the past. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but then, against the odds, along came a lovely family, living in France, near to Toulouse, who had enough love to share with these galgos, and so they were offered their happy ever after.
All should be well from here, but sadly, life doesn’t always turn out like that. Poor Sancho and Quijote have found themselves back in foster care, through no fault of their own, after their adoptive family, 2 years down the line, broke up and found themselves in such different circumstances that they were unable to keep our Spanish knights any longer. This caused heartbreak all round, as the adoption had been happy and successful, but things happen, and Sancho and Quijote have now been in foster care with me for 6 months.
So here we are again, desperately seeking a home for these lovely boys to spend their Autumn years (Sancho is 8 and Quijote 7) in a loving home. Both are in good health although they do both need medication for long standing ailments…Quijote has half a tablet daily for a heart murmur, while Sancho has a low level of leishmaniose and takes a daily tablet too (though this may soon stop as his levels are now just borderline).They are very friendly, although there may be an initial cautiousness which is hardly surprising, they are extremely loving and fun to be around.
They don’t ask a lot, just food, shelter, a daily walk and lots of love. They are very special boys who need a very special person in their lives.
Are you special enough?
Contact Joanna Simm at joannawsimm@hotmail.com