iseultsdream:Dec 5, 2014 - May with newly adopted dogs, Sonia, a Spanish Galgo/Saluki mix, and Bande
iseultsdream:Dec 5, 2014 - May with newly adopted dogs, Sonia, a Spanish Galgo/Saluki mix, and Bandera, a full Spanish GalgoTomorrow(Dec 6), will mark 3 weeks since my niece and I took a 7 hour drive down to south-central PA, to pick up Sonia, the blond dog above that I was going to adopt. Tumblr actually played a big part in how I discovered her. Under the long post on Oct 27 that I had written on my Greyhound, May and her cancer, I had noticed that one or two of the “likes” were from blogs featuring Greyhounds, so I went to take a look at them. As I browsed through the pics on one particular blog I found a link to an organization here in the US that was involved in the rescue, and re-homing of Galgos that had been rescued in Spain.I went down to adopt Sonia, but Bandera adopted me :) When we arrived at the house, we were greeted and surrounded by a herd of friendly, exuberant Galgos. Sonia had a quiet sweet way about her, and I was so glad I had come all that way to adopt her. She is actually a Saluki/Galgo mix, which is not that common. I had read that these mixes of two sighthound breeds are referred to as “long dogs”. I have always wanted a Saluki, and she looks more like a Saluki than a Galgo, and seems to have more the temperament of a Saluki also.As we were standing there among the dogs, one small brindle female would jump up, lay her paws almost on my shoulders, and then lean in, and lay her head quietly on my chest, that is when she wasn’t squirming for joy. My niece said you just have to bring this one home too…and after a bit of thought..I did :) A month before I hadn’t thought of adding a dog, but Sonia’s picture won me over and I was drawn to her. Never would I have imagined when first leaving on this trip that I would end up bringing two dogs back, but they have both been wonderful additions to the house, with less adjustments between the other two at home than I had imagined. May and Kallie seems to really like them, and Bandera who is so puppy-like in her behavior actually got May to run around and play with her exuberantly which shocked me. What a great thing to see. She seems genuinely happy to have these new dogs here.Here is some info for those who don’t have any idea what a Galgo is, which I have found is most people I have talked to.A Galgo, or Galgo Español, is a Spanish Greyhound, an ancient breed of the sighthound family that has been used by men for hunting hare over wild open, rough ground for centuries. It is believed to be an older, distant cousin of the English Greyhound of which most people are more familiar because of its use for racing. The Galgo’s origins are not totally clear, but the most persistent theory is that they go back to the time of the Gauls, a Celtic tribe that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula in the 6th century BC.In later centuries, it was a dog owned by noblemen, and highly revered. A Galgo was so highly prized that “this dog was a significant item in a noble’s will” [Wiki]. All through the 18th and 19th century, the Galgo continued to be used as the remarkable hunting dog it is for hunting hare, and continued to be held in high esteem.The downfall of this ancient, and noble breed came during the 20th century, when it fell out of the hands of the nobility, and a lot of indiscriminate, and excess breeding was carried out, which has continued to the present day in what seems a rampant over-breeding of the Galgo. Hunting with Galgos has seemed to have gone from using the dogs to help procure meat for the table, to a very competitive sport, with the losers mostly being the dogs.The hunting season goes from Oct to the first of Feb in Spain, and during that time the dogs are let loose in pairs on wild open plains to run down hare which they excel at. They are very fast in the field, but unlike the racing Greyhounds, or English Greyhounds, which were bred to be very fast sprinters over a set distance on a flat track, the Galgos also have tremendous stamina and endurance over long distances and rough ground. There are videos of them in the field and they are wonderful to watch.And that is where the story gets very ugly, because unlike in their revered past, at the end of the hunting season now most of them are killed. Sometimes females are kept a little longer so they can be bred a few times. When you first hear that they kill them at the end of the hunting season, there is a part of you that doubts that could possibly be true, but there is endless gruesome evidence of how their lives are ended in the most brutal ways.I should give a warning here, that some of what I am going to write about in a couple of the paragraphs below, many people might not want to read, because it is going to be quite disturbing, and upsetting, to most and especially to animal lovers, so probably best to bail out at this point. I can attest to the disturbing effect exploring this subject had on me. I ended up not sleeping well, and having nightmares. I did it because I wanted to know in depth what these dogs went through, and what horrors they were subjected to, since it was beyond any understanding how someone could do this to them.I have a great love of sighthounds, having had a number of Greyhounds, and in the past Afghan Hounds, and know first hand how loving, joyful, sweet, and even-tempered the sighthound family is. Spanish Galgos are no different. I have found that few people I have talked to here in the US, have ever heard of a Spanish Galgo. Telling about the terrible plight of the Spanish Galgos requires conveying, at least to some degree, the dire situation they are in, and why attention needs to be brought to this terrible, and tragic situation, if there is any chance of ever changing it.The traditional method of killing them, which has persisted for years is to hang them at the end of the season, and if they have hunted badly, and “shamed” their owner, they are hung low so their feet just touch the ground. I was told it takes 4-5 days for them to die this way. That alone is horrifying and beyond understanding. Most people are aghast at first hearing this, and then ask.. but why? The first thought for many is that if they are going to kill them at the end of the season, which is bad enough to contemplate, why hanging?..why not just shoot them, they are hunters after all, and it seems like it certainly would be more humane. It seems to be a combination of not wanting to waste a bullet in some cases, to just following tradition.The mind recoils immediately at hearing this. In fact, most of the time I have found no one wants to hear the details, but without the details, how is one to convey the nightmare that these animals go through. and for what reason. What possible valid reason could one give for this kind of end, for a young, healthy dog, since most of them are under 4, just because they are done with them for the season, and will get new dogs for the next season. It is beyond comprehension. If they are not hanged, they have other brutal cruel ways of disposing of them. Some are dropped alive into deep dry wells to slowly die of starvation and dehydration, or from severe injury after the fall, or they are tied securely to something with no food or water, or thrown in rivers tied to a cement block, or a piece of wood is wedged in their upper mouths between their teeth, so they are unable to eat or drink, or are thrown from cars, or hit by them on purpose, and left badly injured on the side of the road, or abandoned out in the countryside to scrounge what food they can, becoming thin and weak from hunger with a skeletal appearance, scuttling along in the shadows, steering as clear of man as they can. Many eventually dying a slow painful death. These aren’t the only ways they have found to kill them, but that is more than enough for most people if you have managed to read this far. The “lucky” ones are dropped off at a killing station to await euthanasia.Why people would go out of their way to devise more and more horrifying, cruel and brutal ways of disposing of these dogs, ones that have served them so well, for no other purpose than to just get rid of them, is not within the realm of understanding. Of course, we can find animal cruelty all over the world and in every country. I will never understand it, no matter where it happens.There are a number of non-profit rescue centers in Spain with very dedicated, hard working people.. Spaniards and foreigners.. working tirelessly to try to save as many of these dogs as they can, and also to bring attention to their situation. They actively scour the countryside for abandoned, and starving dogs, or injured dogs. They have even saved some from hanging by coming on them in time. Some dogs take time to get near because they have no trust in man anymore. Some are more traumatized than others, depending on the hunter who owned them, and what was done to them. But unbelievably, considering the dire situation of most of them, almost all, with good care, good food, rest and medical care in these rescue centers, learn to trust again, and readily respond in a positive way to the kindness showed by the people caring for them. Once they are rehabilitated they are ready for adoption. After reading so many stories of what wonderful pets they have become in their adopted homes, and how much they are loved, they have to be the most forgiving animals anywhere.Sonia is 6 years old, and Bandera is around 2, although no one knows for sure her age. Both were waiting in separate killing stations in different parts of Spain. Bandera is from Murcia, and Sonia seems to come from the Madrid/Toledo area. Sonia was saved because in her case the killing station had let the rescue people know about her, and they came and got her this past July. Bandera was picked out of a Murcia killing station last Feb by rescue people who, as I understand it, have been given access to some of the Galgos in the killing station. They seem to be trying to work with the rescue people.Everyone agrees that rescue and adoption, although helping some of the dogs, is not the ultimate answer for this huge problem, because it is estimated that at least 50,000 to 60, 000 Galgos!! die each year, and many in ways with much cruelty. There are some animal welfare laws, but apparently they aren’t really enforced in most cases. There are many concerned Spaniards, and others, working hard to expose this terrible situation of the Galgos, and hoping to get things changed for the better for them. Quite a few Spaniards have either fostered, or adopted these dogs, so not all dogs go to other countries. One can only hope that over time, and more exposure of the situation, this cruelty to these wonderful dogs will stop.I don’t know what either Bandera or Sonia have experienced while with their hunter owners. Both are so loving, and playful and sweet. In the first week or so, Sonia would respond to any loud sound by tiptoeing quietly upstairs to one of the dogs beds she had chosen as her safe place, so I assume that at some time during her 6 years in Spain, she was subjected to something unpleasant. The whole house is a safe place, but it took her some time to know that. She seems much better now. She came out of herself this past week, and started playing with Bandera, both chasing each other round and round the pond which has become a daily routine, Kallie and May joining in sometimes too. Bandera is very young, and a little ball of fire. It was like suddenly adding a toddler to the house at first, although she has calmed down a bit now. She is incredibly sweet, affectionate, quirky, and funny. I think she wants to be a lap dog :) I don’t think I have ever had a sighthound who is as affectionate as she is. No wonder it was impossible to resist her :)They came very close to not being here at all. Whatever their lives in the past, I am very happy that I can play a part in giving them a much happier life in the present. They deserve it. They have already made my life a lot happier just having them here, and it is wonderful to be able to watch the invigorating effect they have had on May, who I think is more lively now than even before her cancer.I am grateful and thankful for the rescue organization BaasGalgo in Madrid for rescuing Sonia and Bandera before they were killed, and for taking such good care of them while they had them at their center. And thankful for Petra Postma who does such wonderful work with her non-profit organization SAGE -Save a Galgo Espanol in bringing dogs to the US, and facilitating adoptions of Galgos here, by working with rescue centers, like BaasGalgo, and other centers, in Spain. It was evident to me, while at her home, what wonderful care she took of Sonia and Bandera, and of all the dogs she brings over as they wait to be fostered or adopted. I have great admiration for what she, and so many others are trying to do to help bring attention to these wonderful dogs. -- source link