People ‘on the ground’ in Spain will correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that there have been more abandoned galgos this year than before……..it seems to have been never ending all throughout the non-hunting season. And now there is news just in that upwards of 20 galgos have been taken to the El Paraiso perrera.
Volunteers and associations are working round the clock to save them. Here’s what Charl del Rio says, after her visit to El Paraiso yesterday.
This galga has been shot in the head. I don’t know the story behind how she was found – I’m waiting for the details – but suffice to say she was still alive when taken to the vet, who at the time of my receiving the photo, was operating to save her.
The hunters in France, where I live, are lethal in more than one way! Around our home and land, their shooting days are Thursdays and Sundays. We keep our cat and dogs shut in the house on those days; the cat is shut in all day, much to her disgust; the dogs are only let out in the courtyard.
Please take time to read this news from Greyhounds in Nood Belgium, another group who work tirelessly with volunteers in Spain to help the galgos. Regular trips are made by the team to work in the refuges and bring back dogs for rehoming. You will be horrified to see, towards the end, pictures of two galgos, burned alive on wasteground in Madrid, discovered shortly after gitanos had moved out.
Photo of Guillermo Couto, professor at the Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine, examines Cesca the greyhound on Oct. 11, while another greyhound, Aro, looks on.
Last year I posted about a survey being carried out by Ohio State University into diseases in galgos. I contributed my experience with my galga Karmel and pemphigus foliaceous. Here’s a story by Sarah Pfledderer about Dr Guillermo Couto, whose department carried out the research.
On the first weekend of November Anja Schot of Galgo Support Holland travelled with two galgos Juno and Felix to their new forever homes in Holland. See their arrival here.
Plea for sponsorship. Regular readers will know Tina Solera is another amazing volunteer working in Murcia to save abandoned and injured galgos, as well as helping at Los Infiernos refuge. Tina and her galgo Guapo are in training for the Canicross. Here’s what Tina says about it.
‘Its a 5km sprint on the 21 Nov and Guapo is the first ever galgo to run in this canicross race in this area, possibly all over Spain, although the secretary was not 100% sure about other parts of Spain. For Guapo and me, it is more about publicity for galgos than anything else but if we can kick some dalmation and huskie arses along the way, that will be great. Just hoping the ankle will hold up after twisting it the other day but so far so good. I am so excited…. Guapo, the first galgo to run it, let’s hope we can raise some eyebrows and change a few peoples’opinions about galgos, as well as raising money to pay for microchipping, vaccinating and sterilizing the galgos I rescue.’
If you would like to sponsor Tina, Paypal your donation to tinasolera@hotmail.co.uk. See pix of last year’s event.
It’s easy to overlook the problem for the abandoned dogs on the Spanish Islands, and so here’s a reminder of some of the associations who work extremely hard to save, care for and rehome these deserving animals. Podencos especially have a very hard life and their only hope of a future is off the islands on mainland Europe.
With Christmas coming up, why not think about Sponsoring a Dog. Here are links to the associations on Tenerife, Lanzarote and Ibiza who really need your help.
Ibizan Hound Rescue – contact Valerie Wood
Mo Swatek of Pro-Galgo has had 2 visitors from Spain this week. A couple from America have today, 5th November, taken half a dozen galgos back to the US to new homes. Check out the pix on the Pro-Galgo website.
More happy galgos, running free on the beach, rehomed from Spain in Holland by Galgo Support Holland. See the video here.
