On the way back from my trip in June to Cordoba with the French association L’Europe des Levriers, I collected a galga named Carmela, who was coming back with me for fostering and rehoming. I already have my galga Sahara, Podenca Ebano Bebe, and French levrier X Floyd – my Swedish Valhund Pepsi having disappeared presumed stolen at the beginning of August.
Carmela’s history is a little unclear; taken to a perrera for euthanasia at the end of hunting in January, she had arrived at a refuge, been taken on by EDL for adoption and rehoming in France. She was part of the galgos which travelled to France in April 2009, adopted by a family in southern France.
Her profile was of a nervous galga, but otherwise healthy. 4 years old, she had been used for hunting, but for whatever reason, her unfeeling galguerro decided she was ready for the scrap heap. 4 years old!! And such a beauty!
By the time I collected her at the beginning of June, she had been rejected by her prospective adoptants and moved through 2 foster homes. So she was an extremely nervous young lady when she arrived chez nous. As soon as my husband appeared, she would disappear quickly out of sight. She was terrified of having a walking harness put on her, flattening herself to the floor and wetting herself. She would not walk through a door if a human was anywhere near. She would not be caught outside in the courtyard. She would not go near her food if a human was near. It was upsetting to see such a frightened young galga.
Slowly we have persevered. She trusted me, being female – well, it is always the male gypsies and galguerros who perpetuate cruelty against galgos and podencos – most of them are terrified of men. Through patience and working out a system of ‘disappearing humans’, she learned that food in a bowl on the floor was for enjoying; walking through a door was not a journey into hell; having a harness on meant walking in the meadows in the sunshine with our other dogs; a gentle caress on her body meant love, not pain and cruelty.
I have to admit she tried my patience sometimes – especially last thing at night, before bedtime, when it could take half an hour to get her to come back into the house from the courtyard and toilet time. I was ready to go to bed, surely Carmela wanted to go to bed too!
I also have to admit to resorting to the use of herbal calming tablets. Recommended dose was 3 tablets per day but I gave two tablets morning and evening, reducing to half a tablet morning and evening. I’m sure they helped.
The result is that, after 4 months, Carmela is a confident, trusting galga, who enjoys being stroked and petted. She noses for my hand, for a gentle caress and words of love. She scampers and plays in the garden with Sahara who, being only 2 years old, is a wayward teenager!
And, because there is still no news of my beloved Valhund, I am adopting Carmela, so she has found her forever home with me and my canine family.
Be happy, Carmela, and I wish all galgos and galgas could have a fairy tale story like you.
S
And I curse you Spanish galguerros and Spanish gitans and all your families, who cause unbelievable suffering to these gentle and affectionate animals – galgos.
Comments
9 responses to “Carmela – abused by a Spanish hunter – discovering the good life after rescue”
What a lovely story. Hope you had a nice holiday. I’ve been checking daily to see when you are back! It’s official – I’m a Galgo News Addict! Catherine x
I am going away from 1-12 October and I will not be accessing Internet atall.
If you have any messages to send to Galgo News, please email
Craig McGinty
mcginty.craig@googlemail.com
Thanks
Beryl
TypePad HTML Email
Bonjour
Had a great time with my family in the UK, although
the weather could have been better. I’ve got used to the sunshine in
Deux-Sevres (France) so the drizzle of South West England was a cool
reminder! Worst was that my lovely tan was covered up by long trousers and
long-sleeved tops!
And great to know you’ve become another
addict! Keep spreading the word.
Beryl
http://www.galgonews.comHelping 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
—– Original Message —–
From:
So pleased that Carmela is safe with you, Beryl! Having lived with a traumatised Galgo I know how difficult it can be at times – but oh how rewarding it is when they start to trust and enjoy their lives!!
Be happy Carmela – your bad times are over! xx
Jenny
I am going away from 1-12 October and I will not be accessing Internet atall.
If you have any messages to send to Galgo News, please email
Craig McGinty
mcginty.craig@googlemail.com
Thanks
Beryl
TypePad HTML Email
Bonjour
Thank you for reading the story about Carmela, and
for your good wishes. It is very rewarding, isn’t it, when their
personality comes out, when they learn to trust us, and that it CAN be fun being
a dog! Carmela has taken a lot of patience, but she was not one of the
worst ‘head’ cases we have had here, on overnight stops. I can immediately
think of two, a couple of years ago, a bitch and a dog, brought out of Spain on
separate rescues, both by the same volunteer, who took them to foster and ended
up keeping them. One of them, the dog, now is so trusting and has such a
good relationship with the volunteer, that he is allowed to run free on the
beach with the first galga she adopted. The other bitch will probably
never be allowed to run free, her traumatisation was just so
severe.
My thoughts also often return to the poor galga in
the refuge south of Cordoba, when I went on the rescue in June, who had only 2
weeks before our arrival been cut down from a tree. She had the raw cord
burns around her neck, was terribly thin, so petrified of humans and, before her
passport papers could be got in order, she was stolen by the Spanish
gypsies. She never had a chance to learn to trust anyone.
Thank you for reading Galgo News and taking the
time to comment.
Beryl
—– Original Message —–
From:
What a beautiful Galga. Thank goodness she now has a loving family. Have the huge numbers of Galgos bred each year gone down at all?
I am going away from 1-12 October and I will not be accessing Internet atall.
If you have any messages to send to Galgo News, please email
Craig McGinty
mcginty.craig@googlemail.com
Thanks
Beryl
TypePad HTML Email
Bonjour
Thank you for your comment on Carmela’s
story. Sadly the numbers of galgos have not gone down. At the
moment, the majority of them will be suffering hunger (the Spanish galguerros
think a dog hunts better if it is very hungry), bitcheswill be producing
litters of puppies and, comethe end of January, tens of thousands of
galgos will again be discarded by the hunters in the most violent of ways-
hung from trees, dropped down wells, burned alive, mutilated, dumped on
motorways – and this deadly cycle will continue to be repeated until a law is
introduced in Spain prohibiting their abandonment, controlling their breeding
and, most importantly, the law should be enforced vigourously. Will it
ever happen – we all have to believe so. Which is why I run as many
campaigns as possible on Galgo News, to enlist support for the associations and
refuges fighting to protect these beautiful dogs.
Thank you for reading Galgo News, keep reading, and
support all the appeals.
Beryl
—– Original Message —–
From: