Ines is a volunteer with the refuge Perrikus at Madrid. Bosco was her galgo. This is her story.

When I heard the news, my blood turned cold. Bosco had been stolen by the gypsies. It doesn’t bear thinking about, kept in a cage, maltreated.

How can we bear to think of her beloved galgo in the hands of the gypsies. It is agony. Where does she begin to search?

Bosco was a difficult galgo, very difficult. He was very aggressive with other dogs and also with humans.

Those who know galgos well said he had suffered terribly from maltreatment, to become so aggressive, because a galgo has a gentle, affectionate temperament, not rebellious at all.

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Weekly Telegraph have this week published a short article about Paul and April Carrier, of Alpha Dog World, plus the appeal by them for help for the San Anton refuge at Willamartin. Here is the link to read it:

Every dog has his day at Spanish centre

The legal responsibility in the UK for stray dogs is set to change in April.

At the moment the Environmental Protection Act 1990 advises returning a dog to its owner, if it is wearing identification; contacting the dog warden or local authority, or take it to the nearest police station.

In April this will change, for the worse.

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My copy of WAG, the quarterly magazine from Dogs Trust in the UK, dropped through my door this week. On page 3 is a heading ‘Hope on Horizon for Greyhounds’.

it is a report examining all aspects of the greyhound racing industry and the main recommendation is to amalgamate the 2 governing bodies into just one, to be called the Greyhound Board of Great Britain.

Clarissa Baldwin, the CEO of Dogs Trust, is disappointed that Statutory Regulation has been dismissed by the Government.

A copy of the report can be viewed on Donoughue Report Greyhounds.

I’d like to hear your comments. Is there anything we can adopt for galgos in Spain?

The following article appeared in the Daily Telegraph earlier this week.

Spanish King ‘meddling’ in hunting law row

I wonder how many of the men marching with their greyhounds later intended to hang them from trees, burn them alive, mutilate them…?

Should we start a letter campaign to King Juan Carlos? What do you think?

Six people have been detained after a spectacular pursuit, including a helicopter. They got surprised when hunting with galgo’s without permission in the region of Toledo.

Since the end of November the police department of Castilla la Mancha has performing “Operation GALGO”.

They are seeking for hunters who hunt with galgo’s without a permit, in order to eliminate this kind of hunting.

During this operation, performed by the SEPRONA (the police department responsible for nature protection) six people were surprised hunting with galgo’s and detained in the provence Toledo.

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Wednesdays are my day for doing one of the things I like best, burying my nose in a newspaper. That’s because my copy of the Weekly Telegraph arrives. And I was pleased to see that there was an article by a resident in Spain telling the tale of the arrival of her dog, Cuchi, from a Spanish shelter.

I promise you, I don’t know her – yet – so it’s great that she has got some publicity to further our cause.

Note on my ‘To Do’ list – make contact with her! Here’s the link to read her article.

www.telegraph.co.uk

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.

As always, searching on the Internet for news about galgos, I found the following letter on Inland Trader, a Spanish website. I have their permission to reprint it in Galgo News.

The Spanish Galgo has to be one of the worst treated animals in Spain.

It’s time to make a stand and say we “animal lovers” have a voice on their behalf, and we’re here to help and fight to stop this cruelty. While the Galgos brothers and sisters in other countries struggle as a breed, it’s by far the Spanish Galgo who suffers a brutal life and the cruellest death.

The Spanish Galgo is kept in the most horrendous conditions imaginable.

If a Galgo falls into the hands of a “hunter” its fate more often than not is decided before it’s started.

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