Whilst the Spanish sun is shining, the problems for the galgos do not go away. Since the end of hunting in Spain in January, thousands of galgos have been killed, suffered torture, been maimed, abandoned, some are still suffering, starved in remote shelters, hidden in dark barns, bitches giving birth when they haven’t even the bodily strength to provide enough nourishment for themselves, let along half a dozen demanding puppies.
Some are lucky enough to have been rescued by volunteers and taken to already overflowing refuges.
But the galgos are not the only ones to suffer. The volunteers suffer too, picked on and targeted by their own countrymen.
The volunteers and Spanish people who adopt galgos are also the ones who suffer. They suffer abuse from their countrymen, physical threats against themselves and their families, threats of having their dogs stolen.
AND the police stand by and do nothing! What?! This is a member country of the European Union, supposedly civilised, and yet the police do nothing to protect some of their own citizens – appeals for help are pushed aside!
I’ve had stories of volunteers who make attempts to save abandoned galgos being threatened by the gypsies who are also on the trail of the same dog. Threats of physical violence against the volunteer, threats against their family who are standing by with transport for the galgo if the volunteer can catch it. Threats of violence against their homes. And threats of the galgos the volunteer is already fostering at home, because the refuge she works with is already full to overflowing.
Appeals to the police result in the response – ‘don’t get involved, it’s only a dog’.
Then there are threats against the volunteers by the galguerros who, when September arrives, suddenly decide they want their galgos back, (if the galgos have not been lucky enough to be taken out of the country for fostering or rehoming). ‘That’s my dog’, they say, ‘it is mine and I will take it’. And because most of the dog refuges are outside towns, in the countryside, unattended at night, it is easy for the gypsies and galguerros to climb the perimeter walls and steal the galgos back.
Then there are tales of the people living in Spain to respond to an appeal to rehome a galgo. They walk down the street with their dog. People stop and ask them about the dog. They follow them and see where they live with their dog. It gets to the stage where they are afraid to even walk their galgo in the street, is it going to be stolen?
Can any of us outside Spain imagine the fear of these brave galgo owners, wondering if anyone is looking at their dog with a view to stealing it?
I pay tribute yet again to the fantastic volunteers who rescue and care for the galgos, and the associations who arrange to get the galgos out of Spain and rehome them abroad.
But we only touch the tip of the iceberg.
Please support all the campaigns on Galgo News, and those through the associations whose links you will also find on the home page.
We MUST get Spain to act to protect the galgos in every way possible.