The International Day of the Dog....April 27th, 2008. It is an event worth celebrating, and more importantly, worth using to further the cause of the Galgos, those poor Spanish greyhounds whose lives are a million miles away from the happy, comfortable lives of most of our pet dogs, writes Joanna Simm.
I had intended to follow Beryl's inspired lead and to organise a walk to raise money, but time ran out on me and I began to quake at the thought of the legalities and many tons of paperwork that Beryl had so (seemingly!) effortlessly coped with....so I had to re think.
A while ago, volunteer helper Jackie Stewart had suggested holding a series of 'Awareness Days' to raise the profile of the Galgos plight, and to hopefully find new adoptants, foster families and coat sewers. (And that's people who sew dog coats,by the way, not drains that run from toilets!! Oh the joys of the English language!!). So the idea was born.
Sunday, April 27th saw Sandi Leach (with 7 years history of helping the Galgos through Amigos de los Galgos), Joan Taylor (who recently adopted her first Galgo) and myself arrive in Castelnaudary main square decorated with badges, and armed with a sackful of leaflets.
We were aided and abetted in this task of raising awareness by the stars of the show, George (formerly Adonis), Georgie (formerly Yor), Eva, Samba and Ofelia, all adopted or fostered Galgos willing to do a little charity work for their supper!
We had been a little uncertain of our likely reception at first, but we need not have worried. The Galgos attracted so much attention, all of it positive, and we almost ran out of leaflets before lunchtime. Many of the French we met had already seen the sad tale of the Galgos on television, and were pleased to see some of the lucky ones who have been rescued, and interested to find out how they might help the many more left stranded in Spain.
One man was overjoyed to have a point of contact, as he decided after seeing the programme that he wanted to adopt at least one and maybe more of these lovely dogs, but had no idea who to contact in order to set the wheels in motion. Several bar owners asked us for a pile of the leaflets, to keep in public view, and other people simply petted the dogs and commented on how gentle they were, contrary to what they had expected.
We retired, in true French fashion, back 'chez moi' for an alfresco lunch in the sunshine, while the Galgos snoozed in the cool of the back garden, the house and the barn. After lunch we headed for Carcassonne, (our number had dwindled by then as Joan and Georgie had had to leave us for horsey duties elsewhere) where once again we paraded the dogs through the town, sat at café tables and generally chatted to anyone who showed an interest. (Well, I have to be honest here...I chatted to anyone who spoke English and who showed an interest...Sandi manfully chatted in French too...very impressive!)
There weren't as many people around as we had expected in Carcassonne, sadly, but all the same we managed to get a good few leaflets handed out and left in bars and cafés, and once more the gorgeous gaggle of Galgos made a great impression.
So, tonight we are all tired out, the Galgos and us....we didn't raise money, but hopefully we raised awareness and maybe even found the Galgos a new friend or two. Fingers and paws crossed!
Related article: Photographs from the galgo walk
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