Galgo News

Noel - not a Christmas decoration - Noel has now been adopted

We hang Christmas decorations at this time of year. The Spanish hang dogs. This is one who was lucky enough to be found still alive, which is a miracle.

He allowed his rescuers to cut the rope, and remove the assassination cord from his neck without a whimper. His wounds are being treated by caring volunteers. His crime? To be born a Spanish galgo.

When hunting ends in January there will be dozens more cases like this, many of them will not be found alive.

He has been christened Noel. He is now looking for a forever home. Contact Cristina at GalgosIn Fronteras if you can help.

Join the campaign to stop this barbaric cruelty. Click on any of the website links in the right hand column and find out how you can help.

The galgos need all the support they can get.

Introducing Noa - Noa has now been adopted

Noa is a black galgo of about 3 months old. On 22nd December he suffered a road accident, knocked down in Palencia, left on the tarmac with no help offered, not even from the local animal protection society.

Luckily Amigos de Milord learnt about him and he was taken to a hospital in the city where his pain and injuries were treated. He is now with an orthopaedic traumatologist.

Gemma, another galgo saviour

Gemma works with Sonia and Caridad, helping save galgos and podencos and find them permanent homes abroad. This is her story.

Gemma spent the first 27 years of her life being afraid of dogs, until her sister bought a cocker spaniel. So to find her heavily involved with galgo rescue nowadays is a far cry from her youth.

About 5 years ago, at the same time as she adopted her first street puppy, Gordi, she went on the Internet and discovered other people wanting to help the Spanish galgos, refuges and shelters desperately needing help, and rescue associations prepared to transport galgos and podencos out of Spain to permanent homes elsewhere.

And another

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/peticion-against-cruelty-to-galgos

Another petition, this time from PETA, can be found here.

Another petition to sign

Here's another on-line petition for you to sign, and send details on to all your friends.

Don't be afraid there are no horrific pictures on the petition, those are available through a forewarned link.

http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/tortured_spanish_greyhounds

Sonia, doing her bit to help

Sonia is a volunteer at the Albergue refuge. Her family did not really care about animals, but Sonia always tried to help the street dogs, feeding them.

She discovered the refuge by accident and began helping there. She also discovered, on the Internet, websites of other refuges and realised she was not alone.

Caridad - coping against all odds

When I see pictures like this, I reflect on the dog rescue centres in the UK. I feel very humble when I think what Caridad copes with every day. What do I have to complain about?

I pray that, especially over the Christmas period when people are celebrating, eating too much, and giving presents other people don't want, someone will give Caridad a gift for her shelter.

This is Villarobledo refuge, northern Spain. Once there were 104 dogs living here! Now there are 32. The cages are not safe, as you can see.

Looking for a forever home

Two beautiful dogs, being fostered by Cristina de Luna, are looking for forever homes.

Cristina describes Sari, a young galgo bitch.

The galga is very young and has gone through hell (....me too). She was found on the street, run over by a car. She has had four operations. We tried to save her front leg but it has been impossible and it was amputated two weeks ago. We spent a long one and a half months trying every alternative.

Cristina - another unsung hero

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.

Spanish shelters working non-stop

Wednesdays are my day for doing one of the things I like best, burying my nose in a newspaper. That's because my copy of the Weekly Telegraph arrives. And I was pleased to see that there was an article by a resident in Spain telling the tale of the arrival of her dog, Cuchi, from a Spanish shelter.

I promise you, I don't know her - yet - so it's great that she has got some publicity to further our cause.

Note on my 'To Do' list - make contact with her! Here's the link to read her article.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Will it never end........

I've just received the following tale of an horrific story, sadly one which occurs far too often in Spain. The story is told in the words of the Spanish volunteer.

Once again it happened…. In our land of famous wines, even better cheeses, and…… land of galgueros!

Yesterday evening (Saturday 15th December) at 21.00 o’clock I got a phone call from the emergency number 112.

Someone had called them because they found a greyhound, still being alive, in the gutter of the highway that was lying there since Friday morning. The dog could not walk.

Give a dog a life

If you can't adopt a galgo, what about fostering one. It doesn't cost much each month, 10 euros, or £7.50. It's not much to us, but it is worth a lot to the refuges in Spain which rescue galgos and look after them till homes can be found for them abroad.

Sandra Baas, a jewellery designer who lives in Spain, who runs just such a scheme, explains.

Baasgalgo manages protection campaigns for galgos/greyhounds living in refuges or other protective shelters in Spain. Many dogs live in protective associations or refuges for many years, because they are not lucky enough to find 'forever homes'

Taking good care of these animals consumes a lot of the total available budget. That is why we offer the possibility of financial adoption of a dog. If for some reason you cannot or do not want to adopt a dog in your house, there still is the possibility to help one of those poor creatures in this way.

More on galgo passports for British adoptants

People who have adopted a galgo from Spain need to check the dog's passport, if they are considering taking it back to the UK, either for a visit or permanently.

Errors have been found on some passports, notably that the microchip has been done after the rabies vaccination. Also, blood tests have not been carried out to check the level of antibodies.

Information on requirements can be found on the DEFRA website, where this .pdf document is available.

This is what one adoptant says:

A Canine Noah's Ark - a Tale from the Mountains

Dumbo, a male galgo in the care of Levriers en Detresse Midi Pyrenees, was looking for his forever family. He'd been adopted previously in a home with two french Beaucerons, who unfortunately didn't accept him, so he was returned to the association.

Luck was in for him, in the form of a lonely female sloughi in need of a canine friend. Dumbo was quite shy at first, but settled in, and was such a success that the family have now adopted more dogs from LEDMP.

To date they have the sloughi, Dumbo the galgo, Shaneh the afghan and Trophe the whippet.

Quite a canine Noah's ark!

Only 8,000 euros needed to finish the work

All that's needed for the volunteers to complete the construction of the new refuge at Pedro Munoz, Ciudad Real.

Ciudad Real is a city 200 km south of Madrid. I visited the La Bienvenida refuge there in July 2007, to bring out 4 galgos for rehoming in France. I’ve now discovered the town has a second animal refuge, this one in the Pedro Munoz area.

Construction was begun with the support of the Mayor, but it’s only half built because the funding ran out.

Reina's Tale

Thin, emaciated with shocking burnt paws, a young brindle galga wandered the streets of Seville. A galgo carer, Lola, pulled into the carpark of the local supermarket, and the galga appeared and allowed herself to be stroked.

Returning to her car with food for the dog, Lola, found the dog had disappeared. As she opened the boot of her car to put the shopping in, the galga appeared again, and amazingly jumped into the car. Usually they are too timid and take time to be caught.

Lola took her home and named her Reina. The recuperation process began, worming, de-flea treatments, treatment from the vet for her paws. But danger lurked as she was being walked one day.

Possible problems for Galgos going to the UK

I've heard from a couple of British people who have adopted galgos through French associations, who are concerned about possible problems with the Spanish passports if the dogs need to make a trip to the United Kingdom.

In one instance, there are no 'valid until' dates for any of the injections, and the microchips have been inserted after the rabies injections.

DEFRA requires any dog going back to England to be microchipped BEFORE the rabies jab. Because of this problem, a 2nd rabies injection will now have to be done, with a blood test no less than 1 month after.

The dog can then travel to England 6 months after the date of the blood test, not the injection - 7 months in all.

The blood test can be left longer than 1 month, but the results can be less positive, and a wait of 6 months from the date of the test is still required.

In another instance, the rabies injection was given but no test was done at all.

Since more British people are now adopting galgos from Spain, perhaps the associations involved in their rescues could make further checks on the Spanish passports, before bringing the dogs out.

I'd be interested to hear of any other instances where problems have arisen with the Spanish passports. Email me with details

UPDATE: More on problems for galgo owners bringing dogs into the UK

Rosa, doing something to change the bad things

Some of the dogs rescued by La Bienvenida are prepared for their journey to France

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’.

Togs for Dogs

Weathertogs, who make stylish high quality dog coats, with an especially well-designed range for greyhounds/galgos, recently donated a quanity for use in the rescue centres in Northern Spain, where the nights can be very cold for thin-skinned galgos.

Based in Suffolk, UK, the challenge was to get the coats transported at minimum cost!

Responding to a posting on AngloInfo, John Chambers offered to collect them whilst visiting family in Essex, and brought them back to France. A dog lover himself, he said he was very happy just to help.

The coats should soon be winging their way southwards. Thanks to Wendy Amon, proprietor of Weathertogs, for her extremely generous donation.

Any more tales of donations, email me direct.

Tune In to the Radio

Radio Val D'Or picked up on the recent rescue of galgos and puppies carried out by L'Europe des Levriers at the beginning of December, and for listeners in the Poitou region, there's an interview going out today, Thursday and Friday, with Beatrice Monnet, President of EDL, and also 'yours truly'. I've broadcast to the nation in English, but I had to take a minute to consider whether I had enough confidence to speak in French!

Presenter Ginnette Folwell will run the interviews in her programme 'A Tous Crins', which is a half hour slot from 1700-1730 on Tuesdays and Fridays, and it will also be run after the 9 am and 6pm news on Thursdays.

I'm delighted with the chance to tell listeners to Radio Val D'Or about the problems for the galgos, and hopefully it will result in more people contacting the rescue associations with offers of help.

Radio Val D'Or, 95.2 FM
A Tous Crins
5-5.30pm Tuesdays and Fridays.

If any of the other associations have media reports, send them on to me now.

Update on Fabienne

Latest news on Fabienne is that she is now in a foster home where she can receive the medical treatment she needs, on her road to recovery.

Magical Magnets to help Galgos

In November, Operation Scooby were notified of an appalling situation in El Cuervo, in Sevilla, where there were almost 200 dogs all together, males, females, big, small.

Lots of dogs all together, pregnant bitches about to give birth, dogs with recent wounds, terrible skin problems, dogs on short chains, emaciated.

You can read the whole story and the latest updates on the Operation Scooby website.

To help fund the rescue, care and rehabilitation of the dogs saved from this hell, a couple of galgo lovers have designed and produced some fridge magnets to sell. They have covered the production and postage costs themselves, so 100% of the profit goes to help the Scooby team.

The magnets are currently on sale via the following UK dog rescue websites:

http://www.dogpages.org.uk/forums/

http://www.sighthoundsonline.org.uk/forums/

http://www.rykat.org/forums/

Why not purchase some and pop them in your family and friends' Christmas stockings.

Fabianne - just thrown away like a piece of paper

Introducing Fabianne, luckily for her she was found by some volunteers, under a small bridge under the Andalucia motorway, on top of an old mattress.

This particular day it was pouring with rain and she was soaking wet.

At first they thought she was a puppy, but it turns out she is approximately 6 years of age, and weighing only 11kg.

She was in a state of hypothermia and malnourished to such an extent that she was near death.

And the donations keep coming....

Donations are still coming in from people who couldn't attend the L'Europe des Levriers pre Christmas lunch on 2nd December, so the total amount now raised is over 1650 euros. Wonderful. Thank you everyone.

Is there a home for Inocente?

Inocente is a beautiful brindle galgo mix, about 3 years old, but with a past which would horrify any sensitive person.

Someone tried to hang Inocente, but he was saved before he died. He has an old fracture of the tibia with a 40 degree distal deviation.

The Kimba refuge at Cadiz is asking for people to help find a family for Inocente, one to give him all the love possible and help him to forget his past in Chiclana de la Frontera (Cadiz).

If there is anyone who can help, contact Kimba - www.refugiokimba.org

April & Paul Carrier, the rehabilitators

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.

Thank you for the euros!

The fundraising pre-Christmas lunch organised on 2nd December by the Deux-Sevres (79) group of l'Europe des Levriers' raised 1615 euros and more donations are still coming in. This is a Thank You from the EDL president to everyone who helped

FUND RAISING
I enjoyed very much to be with you at my first fund raising. Thank you for your help and be sure that this money will be well used. We raised 1615 euros : this amount will save approximately 10 galgos !!! Thank you for them. They deserve it so much ! Béatrice from L'europe des Lévriers

8th December, walk in Spain

Here's an idea for fundraising, if there are any readers in the Estepona area of Spain on this date, it's not too late to join in.

There is a two day walk from the ADANA Perrera to the (Crestelina) Casares Refugio and back.

We will start the walk on Saturday 8th December at 11:00 from the Adana perrera and walk approximately 15 kms to the Casares Crestellina refugio with at least 10 dogs.

We will sleep overnight at the refugio, and then the next day we will walk back to the perrera. Each walker must bring his/her own sleeping bag, food and drink for the entire two day journey.

We will have a support vehicle to carry all the walkers' equipment for most of the way. Unfortunately for the last 2kms of the way, each walker must carry his/her own stuff from the vehicle to the refugio. This is a mini adventure, and adults and children are invited to participate. The walk will be mostly in footpaths but a small section will be on theroad. Each walker must take AT LEAST one ADANA dog. You can bring your own dog, AS it can socialise with ADANA dogs.

Please contact Paul on (0034) 699 026 129 to reserve your place on this mini adventure.

Saludos Paul Agius, Webmaster de ADANA www.adana-estepona.com

Letter from Spain

As always, searching on the Internet for news about galgos, I found the following letter on Inland Trader, a Spanish website. I have their permission to reprint it in Galgo News.

The Spanish Galgo has to be one of the worst treated animals in Spain.

It’s time to make a stand and say we "animal lovers" have a voice on their behalf, and we're here to help and fight to stop this cruelty. While the Galgos brothers and sisters in other countries struggle as a breed, it’s by far the Spanish Galgo who suffers a brutal life and the cruellest death.

The Spanish Galgo is kept in the most horrendous conditions imaginable.

If a Galgo falls into the hands of a "hunter" its fate more often than not is decided before it’s started.

Why do they do it.......

Introducing Fran, only 2 years old, rescued when she was tied under a lorry by the gypsies.

Passion Levriers are looking for a loving home for her.

No life for a dog

Chenco, living rough on the streets in Spain. He's been there for at least 4 months, dodging the traffic, covered in sores, being fed by local volunteers who are desperately trying to catch him and save him.

Passion Levriers are supporting the volunteers.

To add your voice to the thousands of others who are trying to stop this cruelty, visit their website or any of the other galgo rescue associations in the right hand column or sign the on-line petition.

Humo and Ebano - the story continues

from Joanna Simm

When I said I would foster Galgos, those wonderful dogs so badly abused in Spain, I didn't really expect that my first fosters would be babies!

I collected them from Deux Sèvres, where I'been to the L'Europe des Levriers fund raising lunch - not exactly a 10 minute drive down the road, as I live near Carcasonne in Southern France! I knew that if any of the newly rescued dogs had no homes arranged, I would be bringing them home with me, but it was quite a surprise when I was handed these two lovely babies...

Ah, the patter of tiny paws! It's been a while since I had such little ones around the house, and I wondered how long it would take them to settle in after such a traumatic start to life, and the long journey out of Spain.

A couple of the lucky ones

We've always preferred to adopt adult dogs, the thought of cleaning up after puppies doesn't enter into my scheme of things.

So when I learnt there were two puppies arriving for an overnight stay on the next rescue from Spain, I had to ring round friends to find out what to do. Almost like being a new parent panicking about how to look after the baby.

Two dog cages and copious towels duly arrived chez nous, along with, not two puppies, but five! Ha! Bit like when I went into hospital to have one baby, and two arrived at the same time.

Gorgeous Gordon

Gordon is a very handsome, pure white galgo, found wandering the streets of Badajoz with another galga, both miserable and very thin.

He was rescued and delivered, by van, to the home of Cristina, a volunteer with a rescue centre south of Madrid. She remembers his sad, honey coloured eyes as he came out of the van. This lovely lady fostered him for five months, restoring him to full health and teaching him his manners. He apparently would not tolerate cats at that time, hard to believe now as we watch him curled up with our rescued kitten.

After a false start with another adoptant...

A Word from Anne Finch

in the beginning there was darkness but now there is more light... but we still have a long way to go

I applaud Beryl’s new venture here in France to create an English language website with continuing news of the galgo situation in Spain. Awareness of the plight of the galgos of Spain and their rescue, has come a very long way in the last 10 years, thanks to all of you.

Here’s how it began…It was the plight of the imported Irish greyhounds which in 1991 drove me to go to Spain to investigate and try to improve their conditions at the tracks in Mallorca, Valencia and Barcelona.

I had to spread the word abroad urgently as, due to the UK’s animal import laws, I desperately needed some sympathisers in mainland Europe to take in the discarded greys for adoption…a cumbersome task before the days of the internet.

Scuttle's story

Otherwise known as Candy. She was nicknamed Scuttle because when she first arrived at April and Paul Carrier's home at Rota, in Spain, her spine was deformed and curved, which made her move in a peculiar way. She had to mince with her back legs and looked like she needed to poop all the time.

She was found wandering on a motorway in Sevilla, and had jumped straight into the open door of a car being driven by a Spanish couple who, luckily, had been able to stop and rescue her from almost certain death on the busy road - it was no accident she was there....she had been left there to die.

Hitting the target at the Levriers luncheon

There were a few special guests at the first Poitou area fundraising event today. Eight of them had made the journey from Madrid in the last 24 hours and five of them were only 10 weeks old.

Joanna Simm had driven up from the Aude on Saturday, and David and Fran from the Dordogne braved the weather to stopover in their caravan, complete with their 2 dogs.

There's always a hiccup, of course, and in heating up the soup on the Baby Belling, the power fused twice, but kind host Steve Blake, armed with torch, sorted it all out! Barman Alan was busy, hardly having chance to grab a plateful of lunch - but then, he did volunteer to collect the ticket money too.

Kool Karmel

Overlooked by many prospective adopters, Karmel spent months in the refuge in Cuiddad Real hoping she would eventually catch someone's eye.

Only 3 years old, she had probably been used as a breeding machine. She joined our family in July 2007, and the first thing she took over was the sofa.

Gentle, affectionate and very elegant, she is typical of her breed. She's a bit of a magpie, collecting an assortment of items on her bed, including my husband's shoes and T-shirts and a doormouse doorstop - she's particularly fond of Dora, who is now beginning to look very grubby.

She has quite a stylish wardrobe of coats, depending on whether it is raining outside or cold inside at night, and hates having to walk on wet grass! She's very much the 'lady' of the canine tribe, and wins the hearts of everyone who meets her.

Karmel's dog coats came from www.weathertogs.co.uk who have a superb range of greyhound and whippet dog coats

Adorable Flora

Flora is a beautiful 18 month old galga who, after roaming the streets of Spain for eight weeks, was eventually caught and taken to a refuge south of Madrid.

She was very emaciated and ill with Leishmaniasis, which is a disease caused by sandflies, which infects the blood. She had several blood tests and treatment was put in place.

Once the tests revealed her health was improving, she was put up for adoption but, because of her nervous disposition, Leishmaniasis and her colour (she is black with white paws) she was often overlooked. But as soon as we saw her photo we knew that she was going to become ours.

She came from Madrid along with several other galgos who were going to new homes. We signed her adoption papers and took her home to meet Zak, our two-year old rescue dog, three cats, 18 hens and three ducks. She settled in very well and soon discovered what being young is and that life can be full of playtime.