I misunderstood the story of these galgos. Cobie tells the story

Today I found out through one of my Spanish contacts that the abandoning, hanging and in other ways mistreating of the galgos for some people just is not yet enough and now they abuse them in an even, I think, more cruel way than you ever could guess.

To embalm a dog, formaldehyde is injected in the vein while the dog is still alive,then take all the blood out of the galgo by which treatment the dog of course dies. They then fill the veins with a chemical fluid which keeps the corpses conserved for many, many years. This is called balming but I am sure you heard about this. So they have a big storage of dead dogs which they use for their studies. In many countries, eg. in Holland, this way of study is forbidden, there are new and technical very good new ways to do a vet study.

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Good news from Pro-Galgo -Teo and Don Juan are off the danger list! Waiting for news of Stefany and Cepo.

All this veterinary treatment is very very expensive, if you can donate towards the cost of treatment for any of the dogs, especially the ones whose legs have to be amputated, details of how to donate are on the website.

Report just in from a volunteer.

‘In one of the corners far away from habitation, in the Province of Badajoz, Extramadura, in the heart of the Comarca de La Serena, this is the consequence of nearing the end of the hunting season.

It’s in one of the regions with the biggest ‘tradition’ of hunts, far away from the rescue associations of Badajoz, far from the associations and refuges in Castilla La Mancha, and far from everywhere else – here dogs are abandoned, in the total silence, to their tragic end.

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When I told Mo Swatek of Pro Galgo what I would like to do to the men who maltreated the dogs she is in the process of trying to heal, she replied with these amazing words, probably expressing what so many of the valiant volunteers feel.

‘It’s horrible when I see in the eyes of the new arrived galgos, to see the panic, the pain and the suffering,and it’s the best part of all the galgo saving job, to see how it slowly disappears from their eyes, and then the eyes start to shine brightly again, joyfull and happy.

Some dogs make it in days, other take weeks and a few ones even years but sooner or later they seem to manage to forget the past.’

Update on Teo, the galgo being fostered by Mo Swatek of Pro-Galgo. And the terrible tale of a very sick galgo found wandering in a cemetery with a hole in his neck – where some bastard had cut out his microchip. And the poor galgo riddled with bullet holes.

Read their stories here, and pray for their recovery.

Me, I pray for the dogs and their devoted nurses, and I curse every single galguero and his family too!

This news is just in. Can any association or shelter help with a foster home where this poor galgo can stay during which will be a long period of rehabilitation.

They have called him Kunta. This is his story.

‘We have rescued a very badly wounded galgo this morning.

He was hit by a truck 3 days ago after what the people living nearby tell us. He is not in danger of death now, but his injures are many and bad. I think he has 2 broken legs at least: the front right leg is clearly broken, as you can appreciate on the pictures… but he also has some injury in his rear legs, possibly knees. I can tell by the weird position of his legs when he tries to walk, or even standing, that he is in very bad pain.

He is having pain killers and antibiotics since we rescued him… and he is still very aware of things and hungry too, which means he is still strong and wants to live.

We will take him to the vet tomorrow… we will see what do they tell us. I hope there is something we can do for him!!

Anyway, it is urgent to find a fosterhome for him. He cannot stay in Bellavista in such condition! And with all the care and rest he will need if he gets operated, the dog hotel is not an option either… so I am asking if you know of anyone that could offer a fosterhome to this one to recover.

And of course, if he needed to get operated, besides a fosterhome we would need to collect money for his operations and veterinary treatment as well!

He is young (2-3 years old) and very noble.

Contact Beatrice beamascotas@yahoo.es

caballitodemar49@hotmail.com

NB As soon as I know which association can take him, I’ll pass on details of where to donate towards the cost of his operations etc.

5 galgos were recently saved from the Talavera perrera and are now on their way to new homes in Holland. Baas Galgo has the pictures.

And 4 more were saved from Cordoba, and travelled to Holland for rehoming through Greyhounds in Nood.

If any of you have red the ‘About Me’ on the home page, you will know that I was converted to greyhounds by a stray which turned up at our home in Suffolk, UK. From then I was hooked! In those days, greyhounds were on the scrapheap. No dog rescue centre could rehome them. Anne Finch, praise her, was still working on converting the population to what fantastic pets these dogs could make.

Molly (as I called her) became a PAT dog, Pets As Therapy, a UK charity. We used to visit an Old Folks Home and the residents used to so look forward to her visit; patting her, hugging her, saving her titbits from their lunch. It encouraged them to talk about the dogs they had owned and, whilst doing that, stroking Molly was a therapy for these lovely people. And I loved listening to their stories.

Molly particularly loved birthdays – you can imagine how much cake she got to share!

Pro-Galgo runs a similar therapy in Spain. Mo Swatek tells the story.

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