Save the Galgo – Stop the suffering
All that’s needed for the volunteers to complete the construction of the new refuge at Pedro Munoz, Ciudad Real.
Ciudad Real is a city 200 km south of Madrid. I visited the La Bienvenida refuge there in July 2007, to bring out 4 galgos for rehoming in France. I’ve now discovered the town has a second animal refuge, this one in the Pedro Munoz area.
Construction was begun with the support of the Mayor, but it’s only half built because the funding ran out.
Thin, emaciated with shocking burnt paws, a young brindle galga wandered the streets of Seville. A galgo carer, Lola, pulled into the carpark of the local supermarket, and the galga appeared and allowed herself to be stroked.
Returning to her car with food for the dog, Lola, found the dog had disappeared. As she opened the boot of her car to put the shopping in, the galga appeared again, and amazingly jumped into the car. Usually they are too timid and take time to be caught.
Lola took her home and named her Reina. The recuperation process began, worming, de-flea treatments, treatment from the vet for her paws. But danger lurked as she was being walked one day.
Rosa is Spanish and works in Information Technology. She’s one of the unsung heroes who has been helping at the animal shelter of La Bienvenida in Ciudad Real, 200km south of Madrid for over 2 years.
‘My parents taught me to respect and love animals’, she explains, ‘and so I need to do something to change the bad things around me. I can’t change the world, but I can do a little to change the world around me.’
Fostering animals at her home and helping them find a forever home, as well as cleaning at the shelter and taking the dogs for walks, was just the beginning. Then she helped with the injured animals. ‘Finding homes for older dogs and galgos is the most difficult, and I try to find homes out of Spain for them’.
Weathertogs, who make stylish high quality dog coats, with an especially well-designed range for greyhounds/galgos, recently donated a quanity for use in the rescue centres in Northern Spain, where the nights can be very cold for thin-skinned galgos.
Based in Suffolk, UK, the challenge was to get the coats transported at minimum cost!
Responding to a posting on AngloInfo, John Chambers offered to collect them whilst visiting family in Essex, and brought them back to France. A dog lover himself, he said he was very happy just to help.
The coats should soon be winging their way southwards. Thanks to Wendy Amon, proprietor of Weathertogs, for her extremely generous donation.
Any more tales of donations, email me direct.
Radio Val D’Or picked up on the recent rescue of galgos and puppies carried out by L’Europe des Levriers at the beginning of December, and for listeners in the Poitou region, there’s an interview going out today, Thursday and Friday, with Beatrice Monnet, President of EDL, and also ‘yours truly’. I’ve broadcast to the nation in English, but I had to take a minute to consider whether I had enough confidence to speak in French!
Presenter Ginnette Folwell will run the interviews in her programme ‘A Tous Crins’, which is a half hour slot from 1700-1730 on Tuesdays and Fridays, and it will also be run after the 9 am and 6pm news on Thursdays.
I’m delighted with the chance to tell listeners to Radio Val D’Or about the problems for the galgos, and hopefully it will result in more people contacting the rescue associations with offers of help.
Radio Val D’Or, 95.2 FM
A Tous Crins
5-5.30pm Tuesdays and Fridays.
If any of the other associations have media reports, send them on to me now.
Latest news on Fabienne is that she is now in a foster home where she can receive the medical treatment she needs, on her road to recovery.
In November, Operation Scooby were notified of an appalling situation in El Cuervo, in Sevilla, where there were almost 200 dogs all together, males, females, big, small.
Lots of dogs all together, pregnant bitches about to give birth, dogs with recent wounds, terrible skin problems, dogs on short chains, emaciated.
You can read the whole story and the latest updates on the Operation Scooby website.
To help fund the rescue, care and rehabilitation of the dogs saved from this hell, a couple of galgo lovers have designed and produced some fridge magnets to sell. They have covered the production and postage costs themselves, so 100% of the profit goes to help the Scooby team.
The magnets are currently on sale via the following UK dog rescue websites:
http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/
http://www.sighthoundsonline.org.uk/forums/
Why not purchase some and pop them in your family and friends’ Christmas stockings.
Introducing Fabianne, luckily for her she was found by some volunteers, under a small bridge under the Andalucia motorway, on top of an old mattress.
This particular day it was pouring with rain and she was soaking wet.
At first they thought she was a puppy, but it turns out she is approximately 6 years of age, and weighing only 11kg.
She was in a state of hypothermia and malnourished to such an extent that she was near death.
Donations are still coming in from people who couldn’t attend the L’Europe des Levriers pre Christmas lunch on 2nd December, so the total amount now raised is over 1650 euros. Wonderful. Thank you everyone.
Inocente is a beautiful brindle galgo mix, about 3 years old, but with a past which would horrify any sensitive person.
Someone tried to hang Inocente, but he was saved before he died. He has an old fracture of the tibia with a 40 degree distal deviation.
The Kimba refuge at Cadiz is asking for people to help find a family for Inocente, one to give him all the love possible and help him to forget his past in Chiclana de la Frontera (Cadiz).
If there is anyone who can help, contact Kimba – www.refugiokimba.org