About Beryl Brennan

Beryl Brennan with residents of her home in France

Probably born with poised pencil in one hand and open notebook in the other, I’ve written for as long as I can remember.

Journals, school newspapers, freebie newspapers. Worked for over 10 years with BBC Manchester regional radio, running the north regional office of the BBC External Affairs, which involved input into 40 language services, plus 4 English language overseas services, and BFPS, the service for British forces overseas.

Moving to Suffolk in 1980, I then worked in local radio, in both production and presentation.

Early retirement beckoned in 2002 and my husband and I moved to a 15-hectare farm in Western France near Niort, along with 2 horses, 2 cats and 3 dogs.

My passion for greyhounds and galgos was born in Suffolk when a stray greyhound turned up on our doorstep. In those days the dog rescue centres were full of them, no one wanted to adopt one, so we kept her. She became a PAT (Pets as Therapy) dog and thoroughly enjoyed visiting old folks' homes, especially when the birthday cakes came out!

Current residents chez moi include a French lurcher, rescued from the streets near Toulouse, an elegant galga from La Bienvenida refuge at Ciudad Real, 200km south of Madrid, and numerous foster galgos and podencos, depending on who comes out of Spain without a permanent home to go to.

Writing credits include French News, the monthly English language newspaper based in France with subscribers from all over the world, where I’ve usually managed to fill a page, and I've also produced general interest features for them.

Others include the Weekly Telegraph, Saga magazine, the Vegetarian Society, Dog World, The Single Step, classic cars and carriage driving, equestrian and sports magazines, and profile interviews for women’s magazines. I’ve also had articles published on several Internet sites.

Where did the idea of Galgo News come from? I'd written an article about the plight of galgos in Spain for This French Life, and the suggestion of a 'galgo blog' developed from there. It's now beginning to take over my life - once you've had a galgo, helping improve their lot in Spain becomes a passion - and as I've always been a communicator, what better way of helping raise their profile than via a weblog.

So, when it comes down to, if you want to read about it, I’ll write about it, (well, most things!) especially if it is publicising the plight of the Spanish galgos and fighting their corner.

We curse you, galguerro. May your last days be spent screaming for death to release you, and may this curse continue down through every generation until your entire race is extinct.