Many of you will remember the story of Kamal, the amazing survivor of 11 years of hell in a Spanish refuge, rescued by Cristina, a volunteer with Perrikus, and rehomed in France. I am sad to report that he has died.
He spent the last year of his life experiencing regular meals, walks in the park, a comfy bed and a lot of love. At 15 years of age, and with many health problems caused by his 11 years of hell, he survived against all odds to what is a natural life span for a sighthound.
I am sure many of you will know how Cristina and Bea of EDL feel at the loss of such a special galgo, but also happy that he lived to experience the last year of his life as a happy hound.
Comments
5 responses to “Kamal, King of the Galgos – the great survivor has died”
So sad to hear that Kamal has gone to the Bridge. Thank goodness Christina found him when she did and he found love at last, albeit it briefly, after a lifetime of hell….
Hi
It would be lovely if everyone who followed the story of the amazing Kamal would post something and then I can tell Cristina and Bea to look at them all – as a memorial to such a most amazing galgo.
No damned Spaniard broke his spirit! Excepting Cristina of course, but she is not pure Spanish.
B
TypePadOops, the last sentence doesn’t read right. I meant that I don’t include Cristina as a Spaniard, she was the angel who saved him anyway.
B
A very spiritual odyssey, Kamal knew deep within him that someone was coming for him and he waited and waited.
That someone’s life was changed because of Kamal.
The place where he was at sounds like a hoarder’s den.
More shelters are needed devoted to galgos.
Relationships with our furry friends, especially the more spiritual galgos are life changing, I know I have two. They are a precious gift to us to be guarded and cared for
TypePadBonjour
The volunteers who work in the dog shelters in Spain have my utmost admiration. The shelters which I have visited are in general situated in the middle of the countryside, well away from habitation. They are manned by a few devoted people, who cope everyday with the continual daily heartless abandonment of dogs, compounded at the end of the hunting season each year by the thousands of galgos which the soulless galguerros toss away like a cigarette end. Sadly for Kamal, for 11 years he endured suffering beyond belief, at the hands of someone who supposedly ‘cared for him’. Cared for him? Confined in a breezeblock cell 2metres square, existing in his own excrement, for 11 years.
Thanks to the amazing effort of Cristina, the team at the Perrikus shelter and L’Europe des Levriers association, the last 10 months of his life were the best he could ever have known.
More shelters are not the answer to the problem. The answer is in the hands of the Spanish national and regional governments. Control of the breeding of dogs, introduction of registration of every dog, inclusion of galgos and podencos as ‘domestic animals’ so that they come under current legislation, reporting of abuse and mistreatment of animals, enforcement of the law which does exist.
We now have a situation where some galguerros will blithely take their galgos to shelters and refuges at the end of hunting so the volunteers can find homes for them! This does not deal with the root cause of the problem and it is only by doing this that the wholesale maltreatment and abandonment of dogs in Spain will be ended.
Thank you for commenting and for reading Galgos News.
Amities
Beryl
http://www.galgonews.com
Helping to make a difference
A person who has never known a dog’s love has missed a wonderful part of life. Bob Barker
The dog has no ambition, no self-interest, no desire for vengeance, no fear other than that of displeasing. Count of Buffon