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Visits to my family have meant Galgo News has taken a back seat for a couple of weeks, but that doesn’t mean galgos have been out of my mind. I am very conscious that the end of January draws near.

Galgos suffer terribly at the end of the hunting season each year in January as the galgueros (hunters) do not want to keep their dogs the nine months up until the beginning of the next coursing/hunting season.

Hence they are slaughtered by hanging, burned alive, mutilated, dropped down wells, impaled, a silent violence in the countryside. On one occasion 40 carcasses were seen in one afternoon round the small area of Medina. Figures of more than 8,000 galgos killed at the end of a season have been quoted.

Please publicise this as much as possible, and ask everyone you know to add their names to the petition sites listed. We all need to speak up to pressurise the Spanish Government to end these horrendous practices.

Click on any of the association sites here if you wish to see pictorial evidence of this torture.

It’s been a frenetic week. More than usual, that is. It’s never quiet in a home with animals! For starters, the two foster dogs haven’t been as uncomplicated as foster dogs usually are. Then there is the Christmas fundraising lunch to organise with Sue.

That’s only four days away, and I’ve yet to shop for the food I’m preparing. On top of that EDL are organising another rescue this weekend, and besides seven adult dogs to house overnight, we’ve got two puppies arriving as well. Or it could even be three. One never knows, until the cars and vans stop outside the door, just how many dogs will arrive!

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Probably born with a pen and paper in my hand, I have written all my life, from letters to penpals to articles in newspapers and magazines and since 2007 on my blogs Galgo News and Podenco Post. I’ve been passionate about animals – had dogs, horses and cats all my life – and have spoken out and protested about animal cruelty in any form.

My conversion to sighthounds happened in 1994 when a stray greyhound turned up at our farmhouse in Suffolk. Those were the days when no one would adopt a greyhound, rescues were overflowing with them and the unspeakable horrors of their end of life at the hands of breeders and trainers had yet to make headlines. Molly made a wonderful house pet, lived with cats and was a great ambassador for the breed with Pets As Therapy – she loved visiting the elderly residents of a local retirement home.

2002 saw my leaving the UK with horses, dogs and cats to live on a farm in rural France. A friend introduced me to L’Europe des Levriers and the rest – as they say – is history. I joined their rescue team and spent many years thereafter travelling into Spain to bring rescued galgos and podencos back to France for rehoming. I soon realised that the world was unaware of the terrible cruelty suffered by these wonderful hounds at the hands of the vicious galgueros both on mainland Spain and the Canary and Balearic Islands and my blogs Galgo News and Podenco Post were born in 2007.

My research on these trips resulted in my creating my definitive guides to the plight of the galgo – From Heaven to Hell – and the podenco – From Pyramid to Perrera – and thanks to some wonderful friends these have been translated into Spanish, French and Italian. Because of the nature of the pictures I was unable to find a publisher for the books, so had to bear the cost of publication myself. All the money raised from the sales of the books has been donated to appeals for help with vet fees and more to many rescue associations.

After 19 years living in France – and the loss of my last horse at 26 years old – I needed to downsize and return to my family in England. I brought back with me my last 2 galgos and tiny Podenca Bebe – all of whom have now crossed the rainbow bridge. So current residents in my small bungalow are Podenca Andaluz Rosely, rescued from a life breeding babies for a hunter, and blind Podenco Bocelli (Bo) who spent half his life on the end of a chain. I miss having a galgo but there just isn’t room for a third hound, sadly.

Little has changed in Spain for the galgos and podencos over the many years I have been helping the volunteers and rescuers – galgueros continue indiscriminate breeding, mass abandonment every year – but now there are very few reports of dogs being hung from trees or dropped alive down wells. Hunters still dump their dogs at shelters, in killing stations or loose in the campo. I have the utmost admiration for all the rescuers and volunteers who work tirelessly for the dogs and the Spanish vets who continue to put injured hounds back together.

I miss my regular trips into Spain to bring hounds back for foster and homing. I miss my visits to my friends in the various shelters around Spain. But time waits for no woman and physically I can no longer cope with the journeys or have room to foster more dogs. However, my work with the galgos and podencos and the many rescue associations continues daily on my blogs.

It’s a misty November day, just the sort of day for getting the laptop out and starting off my blog. My main computer is upstairs in the study, so another reason for getting the laptop out is because I’m babysitting.

When I say babysitting, it’s babies of the four-legged variety.

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Why.

I went to the beach today, and ran on the golden sand,

Ran because I wanted to, and because I can.

I leapt into the sea, and splashed all around,

Running this way and that, to see what could be found.

I looked across the sea to where it joins the sky,

And remembered times in a dark smelly kennel, and asked myself why.

Why life couldn’t have always been like this, carefree happy days,

Instead of days in misery, in the most horrid ways.

I was luckier than some, taken from this life of grime,

Where I thought I would stay for the rest of my time.

Now I sleep in a nice soft bed, in a warm safe place,

And I have the freedom to run, in so much space.

To enjoy days out like this, running in the sea and on the sand.

And to receive no more abuse, only the feel of a gentle hand.

And why can’t more Greyhounds like me be found a similar place,

When their lives are considered over, because they can no longer race

I do not think that I will ever know the reason why,

Only man can answer that, and until then sadly, more of my kin will die.

By Sue Stoddart.

(Whilst the poem refers to greyhounds, it applies also to the hunting galgos. BB)

The Pianist – sounds calm and controlled. But think again. It’s what the Spanish call the method by which they hang a galgo (Spanish greyhound) by the neck from a tree branch, its hind toes just touch the ground. It can take a week for a dog to die like this.

WHY do they do it?

Alternatively, they can be burnt alive or mutilated or be left on a motorway.

WHY do they do it?

What is it which makes the Spanish galguerro ( hunter) get rid of these beautiful, affectionate, gentle, loving dogs like this.

WHY do they do it?

Luckily for the galgos there are people who recognise their plight and try and do something positive about it.

What we are about is being a central focal point, newspaper-style, for any stories good and bad in respect of the galgo, be it appeals for help, fundraising events to promote which could be copied in other areas, latest news, happy home stories where galgos have found a loving family, what happens in the refuges in Spain, where the galgos are found and how they end up in a refuge, the tireless work done by the volunteers in Spain to save these beautiful dogs, the work done by the Spanish vets to help these dogs leave Spain for new homes. Email me via the galgonews website with details and we’ll include it.

There links to the individual associations, so readers can connect easily to their sites.

For the adoption pages, I’m looking for dogs already in foster homes in France, or dogs particularly difficult to rehome. Again, for a complete list of dogs available for adoption, the individual association websites are the places for that.

All the organisations who work to help the galgos and petition the Spanish government to ban hunting with these dogs, and ban televising racing competitions, can have a central point to input their latest efforts, news, future plans, fundraising activities, and much more.

So, join in, we’re all on the same wavelength, fighting for the same goals.

FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT FOR A DECENT LIFE FOR THE GALGOS.

We curse you, galguerro. May your last days be spent screaming for death to release you, and may this curse continue down through every generation until your entire race is extinct.

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