When I joined a galgo rescue mission earlier this year, I met Cristina, an amazing lady and one of the incredible people who work ‘on the ground floor’ in Spain, to try and help galgos. Here is her story.

I don’t think those of us living outside Spain can imagine the work Cristina does and the situations she copes with.

Born in Madrid, of German/Spanish, she qualified with a degree in Marketing and Commercial Management. She works in the import of pharmaceutical raw materials, and her passion is her horses, dogs and cats. She grew up with cats rather than dogs, so used to ‘borrow’ the neighbours’ dogs to walk them.

As time went by, she got to know the ‘underworld’ of the galguerros, and the sad life and mistreatment of their galgos.

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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’.

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April & Paul Carrier like the sun and they get plenty of it in Rota, near Cadiz, where they have their home, the Alpha Dog Centre. They describe it as a summer camp to some, boot camp to others and a sanctuary to galgos.

I talked to them about their involvement with galgos, and how it all came about.

April starts the story. ‘Our initial contact with galgos was when we received a call from a customer, Hailey, who asked us to board a litter of galgo puppies over the Christmas period of 2001, and then we were asked to board the puppies’ mother till a home could be found for her.’

Hailey told them the story of a refuge in Villamartin, near Jerez, which was where the galga had been when she was rescued. She asked Paul to visit it with her and, accompanied by a couple of local vets and some volunteers, they went to see if at least some of the galgos could be treated, and the lives of the dogs improved.

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Nathalie Pollet lives in northern France, and every month she drives thousands of kilometres to transport galgos from Spanish refuges to new homes and a new life in France. It’s amazing how many long-legged canines can sleep comfortably in a Fiesta.

It’s also amazing how school-teacher Nathalie finds the time to go on so many rescues, as not all of them are organised during school holidays.

She’s always been an animal lover, having been a volunteer for many years at a local French refuge, and learned about the plight of the Spanish galgos and the French rescue association L’Europe des Levriers in a television programme.

“When I decided to adopt one of these gentle dogs in June 2006,” she explains, “I completed the ‘Request to Adopt’ form and Atenea was chosen as the one most suited to my lifestyle, having been saved by volunteers in Spain from being gassed.”

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Beatrice Monnet is one of the founder members of L’Europe des Levriers (EDL) established in August 2006 and I talked to her about how she got involved with galgos.

Beatrice Monnet (featured right): I was a volunteer with the SPA, mainly working with dogs who were considered to have no chance of rehoming. One I worked with was called Wanda and she was very traumatised by the gypsies. After six months she was fine with me, and I discovered she was a crossed galga (female galgo).

So I decided I wanted to help other galgos. I fell in love with the breed. I was very angry with the cruelty against them and I feel that fighting against the galguerros (Spanish hunters) is also fighting against barbarity in general.

Beryl Brennan: When was your first rescue?

BM: To begin with I was a volunteer with Levriers en Detresse for two years and went on many rescues with them. I also went to Madrid to do a rescue for Amigos de los Galgos and at the same time I discovered another association called Perrikus. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Cristina de Luna.

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