Galgo News

A Cry for Help from Pedro Munoz Refuge

Too many dogs; too little money; too few helpers, rock bottom morale.

In an earlier post I reported on the Pedro Munoz refuge at Cuidad Real, 200 kms south of Madrid.

A refuge half built, before the Mayor pulled the plug on the funding.

Over 100 dogs, only three volunteers, and bills piling up which they haven’t the funds to pay.

They're desperate for help.

Passion Levriers collects 10 galgos

Last Saturday, 26th January, Passion Levriers was once again at the Spanish frontier to pick up 10 more galgos, prepared for adoption in France.

At the same time local Basque TV did a short report, which you can see on the You tube video clip above or via this link. There was also a report on Telecinco, another TV chain, but inaccessible to most of us over here.

Our vehicles collecting the galgos took over 23m³ of food, bedding, medication etc for the Spanish refuges in the hope of helping them through the rest of the bad weather and the surge of animals being abandoned as the season [for hunting] draws to its end….

Coats for Galgos

Nights in the Spanish winter can be bitterly cold. And if you are a galgo with a skeletal frame and very little hair, it can be hell.

So one of the ways people can help to improve quality of life is to make dog coats. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a Zandra Rhodes or Mary Quant, even those who are not a dab hand with a sewing machine can make these stylish dog coats.

I’ve been sent the following from a supporter in France. So go on, give it a try!

Adopt a dog - but are they all suitable for home life?

Spanish galgos, like greyhounds, can make wonderful pets and dozens of galgos are rehomed by rescue associations. The associations have to rely on the volunteers working in the Spanish refuges to assess the dog’s character, test it with other dogs, cats, etc. Sometimes they get it wrong.

Whether or not a dog is suitable for rehoming depends to a large extent on the treatment of the dog before it arrived at the refuge. Most of them are rehomed without problems, apart from having to be toilet trained! But some of them need rehabilitation before being suitable for a forever home.

Thanks from Caridad

I am always overwhelmed by the generosity of of some of the readers of Galgo News.

A while ago I wrote about Caridad, a Spanish volunteer who looks after over 30 dogs on her own, in one of the poorest of refuges.

Not a galgo, but still a sighthound

This is Lord Byron, he is in Tarragona, Spain. He was found tied to the door of a house, where the owner has an Afghan.

He was covered from head to toe in fleas and ticks, and very weak.

His coat was knotted like dreadlocks right to the skin, so his skin could not breath, so he had to be clipped.

He has dermatitis, woulds and lumps all over him, possibly because he got caught under a wire fence, which cut his skin and became infected.

More Forever Homes needed

As the hunting season with galgos in Spain draws to an end, the rescue associations are swamped with abandoned and injured dogs.

SOS Levriers is one of the French associations desperately looking for forever homes, or foster homes.

Currently there are seven dogs which they are desperate to bring out of Spain, including Nur, Azucena, Corso and Liberto, Fred, Jezabek and Gina.

Check the SOS Levriers website for more details about how to adopt, and to contact them if you can help.

Introducing Pruna - she has now been adopted

A little podenco looking for a forever home.

About three years old, she was used as a hunting dog, beaten quite regularly. Then she got her hind leg caught in a trap. so her owner tried to cut the leg off with ‘scissors’.

Releasing her to a life on the streets, she was knocked down and injured further. Luckily she was found and taken in by a rescue association, who operated on her leg, to be cared for in a foster home.

She was so traumatised by now that she didn’t make a single sound, or move at all.

Carlota - a very vocal campaigner in Spain

Whilst researching the Internet for information about galgos in Spain, I came across the website of this amazing lady. She's British, married to a Spaniard, with 3 children and adopted animals, all living in a bi-lingual home.

Here's her story, in her words.

Well what can I say, my name is Charlotte, I write and publish as Carlota, I'm 34 married to Dioni a Spanish man, and I have 3 children, Sofia 5 Sebastian 12 and Neizan 2. We live in a bilingual home, and we have 2 dogs, one a galgo adolescant, one an 8 year old little dog, and 2 cats a bengal and a burmilla. All adopted.

I have always been animal orientated and as a child very aware of the dangers animals faced at the hands of man. At 11 I can remember my Dad always telling me "Charlotte, anything important should be written on paper!" So, thats where I began.

Disposable dogs?

It's easy to tell the end of the hunting season in Spain is near. The galguerros are getting rid of their dogs. Why, because they can't be bothered to keep them during the summer.

San Anton refuge, in Villamartin, now has over 50 galgos and, in the last couple of weeks, the volunteers have arrived in the mornings to find yet more left at the gate.

Five of them have been taken in by Paul and April Carrier at Alpha Dog School, sponsored by L'Europe des Levriers.