Greyhound Action Denmark – helping Greyhounds and Galgos

Lisbeth Mønsted Larsen of Greyhound Action Denmark is another tireless campaigner for improving the life of animals. I asked her to tell me how she got involved with helping the greyhounds and galgos.

‘There is not much I can tell you about the galgos adopted throughout Scandinavia. I know people who have adopted galgos and who treat them very well and that the galgos who have found homes here are well looked after. The reason that I can´t say more about that is simply because my involvement with the galgos is more a question of helping them where they are situated in Spain and alerting other people to their plight. I concentrate more on the plight of the racing greyhounds as does my small organisation.

We are called Greyhound Action Denmark. The results we have are due to simple effective comunication and international network. I have a lot of contacts,some that stem from my research into my greyhounds’ past. Others from when I formed my organisation in 2006 when the track in Barcelona closed down, leaving a lot of Irish racing greyhounds in lurch. Other associations here were not willing to help, so I had to contact other organisations in order to try and save lives. I felt compelled to do so as in March 2005 I got a purebred greyhound with a racing career behind him on the mobile tracks in Spain.

Connor was born in Castil la Mancha. According to the altered tatoos in his ears someone, probably gypsies, had tried to erase poor Connors tatooes with acid and then tatooed three to four times on top of the original tatooes. As you can imagine, it created quite a mess and also a curiosity on my behalf so I wanted to find the pedigree and background of my young ex-racing greyhound.

It took me two years to locate his sire and parts of the dams pedigree. The latter could never be substantiated because the Spanish Greyhound Studbook was closed down when the last track in Barcelona closed its gates in 2006. Because of what Connor had been subjected to, I began to research the racing industry worldwide and the the horrors that were exposed were worse than anything I had ever imagined. I already alerted people to the plight of the galgos in Spain, but I felt a need to act on behalf of the racing greyhounds, hence forming my own organisation called Greyhound Action Denmark.

It is our goal to improve conditions for the racing greyhounds and have racing banned worldwide, as well as alert people to the plight of both greyhounds and galgos. We sometimes donate blankets, old collars, leashes and coats to some shelters and rescues in Spain and other places in the world. Being the voice of the voiceless is our best weapon and ultimatly biggest duty towards both animals as well as humans. We try to alert people to the plight of both these neglected and abused sighthounds and try to help find homes for retired racers and other sighthounds primarily in Denmark, as this is where we are located.

We also demonstrate to get animal cops here in Denmark and for improved animal welfare laws, harsher punishments for mistreatment and neglect of all animals here in Denmark. It is a very tall order but we will keep fighting because that is all we can do, be a voice for the voiceless both here and internationally.

Most sincerely Lisbeth Mønsted Larsen Greyhound Action Denmark.’

Introducing some of Lisbeth’s canines.

This is a picture of Jack, our first ‘hands on’ rescued galgo found here in Denmark 7 kiloes underweight unsocialised with people he had been deprived of food and he had been beaten as well. He has made marvellous progress since my friend got him home. He has begun to take treats from strangers, before he was petrified of people; if he saw them he would try to get away from them as fast as possible, but thanks to the loving care and patience my friend has given him, he is now a much happier galgo than when she got him home a year and a half ago.