It’s been a busy time for the associations in Spain, working with Greyhounds in Need to rehome galgos. Read the latest news on this link
Amd Levriers sans Frontieres (Galgos without Borders) has recently brought some more from Scooby Medina for rehoming in France. Here’s a link to view pictures of their work and their dogs – it’s in French but that doesn’t matter, pictures cross all languages!
On Sunday, 11th September, I organised the 2nd Fun Dog Show at my home north of Niort, in Western France. Last year the sun shone gloriously, this year we caught the tail end of Hurricane Katie; it rained and rained! But we were not beaten because we have a huge barn – it used to house 400 sheep – so we just moved everything inside!
This galga was rescued, injured and suffering from hunger, thirst and the scorching sun for three days on a building site in Madrid. She was rescued by a veterinary student. UPDATE – Sadly just learned that Olivia did not make it, sadly she died. But I leave here story here for you to read. Olivia (as she was named) had a broken hip and a leg!! Veterinarians wanted to kill her, her injuries were so bad.
In August 2011, a case of canine rabies was notified to the French Veterinary Services. A French family from the Vendee travelled to Morocco on holiday, and whilst there, they ‘adopted’ a stray 3-month old puppy, which they illegally imported to France.
The puppy presented behavioural changes on 1 August and was admitted to a veterinary clinic on 6 August. It died the following day and the body was shortly sent to the national reference centre where rabies was laboratory-confirmed on 11 August. Contact tracing and post-exposure treatment were initiated immediately
Read the full story here and a further article discussing the need for anti-rabies injections.
Here’s a nice bit of news for 5 galgos in the Scooby shelter – they are going to France to Levriers sans Frontiers for foster and adoption. Fermin chose 5 galgos who most needed to travel to France. Thanks to Odile Brochot, president of LsF. And here they are. Scooby now tells me that, in all, 23 galgos from Scooby going to France to Levriers sans frontieres. They had reserved 18 galgos and then Odile Brochot, the president from LSF, asked Fermin to choose 5 galgos who needed most to leave the shelter, so Fermin chose the 5 below, so that makes a total of 23 galgos leaving in September for France.
Do you remember the story of the hanged galga saved by Letitia and taken to the home of Cristina, vice president of L’Europe des Levriers? Here is the latest news about her.
She is now called “Campanilla” (Bell in Spanish) and she lives in home in Cristina in Madrid. It is the poor galga who was hanged and Leti found wandering the streets of a village near Toledo. The rope had cut her neck under the trachea and she was suffering from severe malnutrition. The veterinarian of Toledo did an excellent job of repairing her wounds to pepare her for transporting to a Madrid clinic where Cristina could look after her. She remained there a week and last Monday she went to Cristina’s home.
Message from Pia Berrend. We are planing a “World Event to End Animal Cruelty” which we affectionately refer to as WEEAC. An idea for the world’s first joint action against cruelty to animals which originated in the United States. WEEAC can now be found in 25 countries and 48 cities around the world, all on October 8th, 2011. Each country and participating city have organized events on their own.
Our organizaton was founded this past Feb. 2011, and the response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic and we have many countries & organizations now involved and more signing on every day.
I am disappointed to learn that ageism is alive and flourishing in animal rescue associations. Let me start by saying to all of you who practice it – one day you will be a victim of ageism – you will be ‘old’!
Now I’ll ask you all a question – if I applied to your association to adopt a dog, would you refuse me – on the basis that I’m 64 years old, been married for 41 years, work from home, had dogs all my life? Would you?
Some of the galgos in the Villa del Rio are under the care and control of L’Europe des Levriers, the French association with whom I work closely and from whom I have adopted my 3 galgas, plus them helping me get my little Podenca Andaluz Bebe from Seville.
Some of their puppies in one bed died, but there are others – Noche, Jade, Scarlette, Pucca – Cristina, Vice President of EDL, went from Madrid down to Cordoba and brought back some of the dogs, who are now in kennels which need paying for.
This beautiful boy is Bracken. He was rescued earlier this year, waiting outside a supermarket with a badly injured front leg – the bone was sticking out. Even though he must have been in awful pain, he was still gentle and affectionate to those who took him in their loving care and back to a place of safety. The refuge vet operated on him and he was placed in foster car whilst his injury healed.
A couple of weeks ago he came to join my canine family at my home in France. He had been reserved by a lady in the UK but circumstances have changed and she can no longer take him. So he is now looking again for his forever home.
