He’s a beautiful greyhound lucky enough to be with APAH rescue on the Costa Blanca. Associacion Protectora de Animales Horadada.
Learn more about Blue.
APAH are very active in trying to improve life for abandoned animals in their area, especially for the hunting dogs. This is what they say on their website.
“Hunting is a very popular pastime in this area and while some owners care for their dogs the majority do not.
The Pointers and Greyhounds that end up with us have often been badly ill-treated with burns over their bodies, chains embedded into their necks and that is before they have been abandoned with no food or water in a strange area and left to fend for themselves.
This makes them scared of people and therefore very difficult to catch which means they can be on the run for months until they are so emancipated and footsore you cannot believe they will survive.
Then of course, there are those that have been shot or caught in one of the illegal traps still much in evidence around here. The females often fare even worse as they have been mated so frequently that they are exhausted and then turned out with the latest litter of unwanted pups to die a slow lingering death while watching the pups get squashed under cars one by one!
As a result of constant pressure from APAH, particularly over the last two years, both the Police and the Ayuntamiento are beginning to take Animal Protection more seriously and assure us that cases of abandonment, cruelty etc. will now be followed up. The Alcaldi has now appointed an Abogado to deal with cases of abandonment and cruelty passed to the Ayuntamiento by the local Police. To date two cases are being processed.
We have a weekly meeting with the Police where we pool information on cases of cruelty, abandoned dogs etc. In many cases a visit from one of us works and the owners ceases to tie up his dog or otherwise mistreat it. But in others, especially where the owner becomes abusive or cannot be found or the animal is on private property then the Police will pay a visit.
We are still waiting for the final list to be issued detailing exactly the amount of fines which can be levied in cases of failure to microchip, clear up dog poo, cruelty, abandonment etc. As things stand now, it appears more sensible to pursue future cases through the Ayuntamiento rather that via the legal system as the Ayuntamiento have the power to impose much higher fines.”
To learn more about APAH, the work they do, and how you can help them, visit APAH rescue