Galgo News

Urgent Help needed for Galgos in Andalucia

The following letter has been received from April and Paul Carrier, right, at the Alpha Dog Centre:

We have worked for 8 years rehabilitating and preparing small groups of 10 to 20 Spanish Galgos for adoption. We have been spared the reality of the desperate day-to-day struggle undergone by dedicated and caring individuals like Saskia and Juan the veterianarian, who spend the bulk of their lives working to help abandoned Galgos and many other dogs of all shapes and sizes at their shelter.

They are on the 'front line', seeing and experiencing the abandonment of galgos and other dogs on a scale hard to imagine.

This morning Paul went to visit their shelter, Acogida de San Anton in Villamartin, Andalucia, to collect another galga. He found Saskia and Juan sad and beginning to lose hope - they currently have in their care around 70 Galgos, and 125 other dogs.

Return to the Wild - catching an escapee

At the end of the Spanish hunting season in January, hundreds of galgos are abandoned every year, and many of them resort to living on their wits to survive.

It can take weeks, sometimes months, of patient work by volunteers before a dog is finally caught and taken to a refuge.

Not all of these dogs cope with the change in situation, and if they then travel to another country and are put in a domestic environment, it can be even more traumatic, and their first instinct is to escape again.

One such dog recently arrived in France.

Buy Greetings cards to help the Galgos

Sandi Leach is a volunteer with Amigos de los Galgos, and has the following idea to raise funds.

At www.arts-et-cartes.com you’ll find original, fun, francophile greeting cards. During April, for any order via Galgonews we will donate 50 cents per card to the Spanish refuges.

To make sure that the galgos benefit from your order please add (galgos) after your name when giving your details for delivery.

Buy safely and securely online at www.arts-et-cartes.com and help save the Spanish galgos.

Please support her initiative.

Bringing more galgos to France

Last weekend Amigos de los Galgos carried out yet another 'lift' of galgos rescued from the horrors of Spanish hunting life. Working with the Pedro Munoz refuge in Ciudad Real, 11 dogs were brought across the border to start their new life with families in France.

Nuria and Ivan have a supportive team, including Cecile, Noelle and her husband, and Laetitia, who headed north with the dogs, including a 4 month puppy and a podenco. Sandi and Joanna work hard with fundraising, fostering and rehoming in south eastern France, and Aurore is the representative in the Pyrennees.

The Boycott is Launched!

THIS IS SPAIN!

A boycott against Spain has been launched. Don't visit Spain on holiday, don't buy Spanish goods. Help the animals of Spain.

Visit Cruelty in Spain to discover more information about the boycott which has been launched against Spain and their abuse to animals, galgos/bulls.

Update on Linda

An online eBay collar auction in aid of Refugio Kimba has allowed Sighthound Welfare Trust to provide £250 in grant funding to the Spanish based animal rescue organisation.

The grant will support the excellent work that Kimba carries out on a daily basis for galgos, but in particular the funds will help with the veterinary expenses of Linda, a pointer.

Support an Animal Protection Law in Spain

The Spanish Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, is inclined to create a new National Animal Protection Law to avoid the atrocities against galgos and podencos.

Please, email her to emphasise the support she will receive from galgo supporters worldwide.

ministra@mma.es

To read more, visit galgosinfronteras.

Where's the Sense?

The legal responsibility in the UK for stray dogs is set to change in April.

At the moment the Environmental Protection Act 1990 advises returning a dog to its owner, if it is wearing identification; contacting the dog warden or local authority, or take it to the nearest police station.

In April this will change, for the worse.

The Donoughue Report

My copy of WAG, the quarterly magazine from Dogs Trust in the UK, dropped through my door this week. On page 3 is a heading 'Hope on Horizon for Greyhounds'.

it is a report examining all aspects of the greyhound racing industry and the main recommendation is to amalgamate the 2 governing bodies into just one, to be called the Greyhound Board of Great Britain.

Clarissa Baldwin, the CEO of Dogs Trust, is disappointed that Statutory Regulation has been dismissed by the Government.

A copy of the report can be viewed on Donoughue Report Greyhounds.

I'd like to hear your comments. Is there anything we can adopt for galgos in Spain?

Fostering a Dog

There are always appeals for foster homes for dogs, but many people are hesitant to volunteer because they are afraid of becoming too attached to the foster dog, and not being able to let it go to a new home.

Certainly there are risks involved, not least of which are the tugs at the heartstrings! But it is really extremely worthwhile and rewarding, and it gives a dog more of a chance of getting a permanent home, whereas it is less likely to happen in a refuge.

One of the main advantages is that it enables the foster dog to be assessed.

What is its attitude to other dogs? Can it live with cats? How does it cope with boisterous children? Can it be toilet-trained? Could it live as the only pet, or does it need another canine companion? What sort of things frighten it?