THINGS ARE CHANGING IN SPAIN..

[greycie]

THINGS ARE CHANGING IN SPAIN...

Update January 2020
Spain's new government named anti bullfighting animal activist Sergio Torres as general director for animal welfare. More information here:
https://www.stieren.net/en-gb/news/180/ ... xIhL37_Bw0

It is very important that each and every abuse case gets reported to the authorities. Unfortunately that is often not the case due to language barriers of foreign rescuers, due to lack of trust in the system in general or even because the story published in social media was not the reality. WE NEED TO CREATE STATISTICS THAT SHOW THE REAL PROBLEM, ITS THE ONLY WAY TO LET THE AUTHORITIES SEE THE REALITY AND MAKE THEM REACT ! How can it be that in 2017 only 57 Galgos were reported abandoned when rescuers speak about thousands of hounds dropped in pounds, shelters, abandoned or even worse?

Foreigners often have a complete wrong idea about what is going on in Spain. They are told that Spain is only known for its mistreatment to Podencos and Galgos, that all spaniards don't want them, don't like them and don't like dogs in general but thank Dog things are changing quite a bit and for better.
Of course their is still lots of neglect and mistreatment but compared to how it was when we started 20 years ago, its much much much better. In 2015 the animal welfare law was renewed and since then many spaniards went to jail for severe mistreatment of animals, not only for dogs, for cattle, horses, etc. The spanish police Guardia Civil has a special branch called Seprona, Section of Protection of Nature that includes animal welfare etc. These guys started now to go for hunters who abandon, for galgueros who hang, for breeders who neglect...
There is still much to do but its getting better and all the local animal advocates work hard for a better future for all animals in Spain.

In the last 20 years thousands of spanish sighthounds have been adopted in Spain by spanish people. A walk through Madrid or Barcelona will show you how many hounds are now beloved members of spanish families.
Over 40 charities, mainly run by young spanish animal wellfare people rescue and rehome pods and galgos within Spain. These groups do a wonderful job as they not only rescue but also are animal rights advocates and fight for a better future of all the animals in Spain.
One of the most important things in Spain is to report all cases of neglect or mistreatment to the authorities as this is the only way to make the government realize how severe the problem really is. When you see animal mistreatment, please report it! And please don't donate to people who always post the most horrible stories if they never report the cases. Spain has its own special police force for animal and nature protection called SEPRONA. They are going more and more after hunters, illegal breeders etc.

The last group picture shows galgo and podenco adoptants at one of our meetings in 2013... the second picture, of 2012 and the third our pack receiving goodies from our spanish volunteers, picnic with galgos in 2014.

Things are changing in Spain but massive exporting of spanish hounds without working on the root of the problem is not the solution. Spains rescuers need help to fight against animal abuse of all kind and they even founded a political party called PACMA, specialized in anti bullfight work and animal welfare in general.
STILL A LONG WAY TO GO BUT THE SPANIARDS FIGHT FOR A BETTER FUTURE OF ALL ANIMALS. DON'T GENERALIZE, MOST SPANIARDS DO NOT APPROVE HUNTING OR BULLFIGHTS!

[straßenköter]

Das bestätigt meinen mittelbaren Eindruck!
Mein Mann ist ja immer mal wieder in Spanien unterwegs, dem fällt natürlich sofort jeder Galgo auf, den er sieht, und immer wieder kommt er dann auch mit den Besitzern ins Gespräch. Das sind in der Regel dann Adoptanten wie hier auch.

[greycie]

Wir waren im September ja in Dänemark im Urlaub. An einem Tag fuhren wir zu einem alten Wikinger Dorf dieses zu besichtigen.

Und plötzlich kam eine Familie aus einem Auto heraus und aufgeregt diskutierend auf uns zu. Und immer wieder fiel das Wort "Galgo".
Mich hat erst irritiert, da das Fahrzeug ein dänische Kennzeichen hatte, aber die Leute sprachen eindeutig spanisch.
Leider konnten wir uns nicht verständigen, da diese kein englisch sprachen.
Aber sie waren total angetan und haben unzählige Bilder von den Hunden gemacht und jedes mal wenn wir uns in dem Wikinger Dorf begegneten strahlten sie übers ganze Gesicht.