WARNING
Please do not enter this DEDICATION area if you are adversely affected by unpleasant pictures. This area is not suitable for children or minors.
Colorado
“Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to a man.
Just as one wants happiness and fears pain,
just as one wants to live and not die,
so do other creatures.”
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Note: The photographs in this area are presented as ‘thumbnails’ to see a bigger image click on the picture.
Ghost Dogs – Painting by Netty Shone
This area is dedicated to every greyhound who suffers or has suffered injury, neglect, cruelty, psychological trauma, or violent death, directly or indirectly at the hands of humans. Lest we forget, lest we lose sight of our priorities, lest we falter or tire in our efforts to improve the quality of the lives of greyhounds everywhere, we take the liberty of sharing with you the sight of their afflictions, wounds, and their bodies.
These photos were taken in the Medina del Campo area, near Valladolid, by Fermin Perez of Scooby Association with whom ‘Greyhounds in Need’ works to rescue the greyhounds of Spain. Fermin and his helpers do everything in their power to give medical and loving care to every wounded or sick animal who comes into their hands. Some were already found dead, some died later, despite our efforts, some were restored to health, and some have even made it already to the beds and sofas of loving homes in northern Europe.
Background
When the hunting season finishes each year in January, the Galgueros (owners of the greyhounds) may not want to keep their greyhounds for the nine months up until the new season starts again in the following September. They have already bred new pups for the following season’s hunting. Consequently, there is wholesale abandonment of greyhounds from January onwards, which runs into thousands all over Spain. The worst areas are in Castilla y Leon, Madrid, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Granada, Extremadura and Cuenca. Furthermore, during the season itself, if a greyhound becomes “sucio” (literally dirty), that is, the dog is disqualified because of following the circles of the hare it cuts across and takes the shortest route, traditionally, the hunter says ‘ese no come mas en mi casa’, (this dog can no longer eat in my house) and the dog may be hanged in the most torturous way possible to restore the fallen pride of the owner. It is this wicked tradition that we dedicate ourselves to bringing to an end. We do this by means of education, public awareness, use of the media, and by offering the alternative of bringing the dog to Scooby’s refuge.
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- This dog was found in a pine grove in the village of Carpio. He has been hanged and burned, probably to conceal his identity. Baling cord is commonly used to hang the dogs.
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- This bitch has wounds inflicted on her body as if she has been beaten as well as hanged. She was found in the woods of Medina.
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- Three greyhounds were found in this well near Ataquines. Two had been hanged, and one was tied to a door before being thrown in the well.
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- Another common fate of unwanted greyhounds; they are either deliberately tied to and pulled along to their death by a car or are accidentally hit by cars.
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- This greyhound was tied to a tree in Fuente El Sol, and left to die of hunger and thirst.
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- One Galguero told me that the dogs do not suffer when they are hanged. Look at this face. What do you think?
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- Robbers (gypsies) broke into the refuge at Scooby and stole 11 greyhounds and left this savaged pit bull in the paddock. Dog fighting, even using a greyhound as bait, to teach the pit bulls agility, is rife throughout Spain.
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- Robbers (gypsies) broke into the refuge at Scooby and stole 11 greyhounds and left this savaged pit bull in the paddock. Dog fighting, even using a greyhound as bait, to teach the pit bulls agility, is rife throughout Spain.
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- Brought into Scooby from South Madrid. Grossly malformed legs due to malnutrition on dam as well as pup.
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- This is the detail of Reina’s foot, caught in a fox trap.
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- This is the detail of Reina’s foot, caught in a fox trap.
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- This is Reina. She is suffering from Leishmaniasis which has become acute due to the extremely poor condition in which this bitch was found. She was found wandering in South Madrid. Her right foot had been caught in a fox trap and was mangled and unrecognizable as a foot. She did not survive.
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- There were many bodies of greyhounds in this gravel pit in Rueda. Some had been shot, some hanged and others drowned. The bodies, as with every other instance listed here, are still there now in various stages of decomposition
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- This greyhound also came from South Madrid. We suppose the foot was caught in a fox trap. The bone is exposed and splintered. It has been pinned and plated by Elena Garcia, a vet in Medina del Campo.
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- Most hanged dogs are greyhounds but other dogs too suffer the same fate. They may be gun dogs, other hunting dogs, guard dogs or pet dogs. These dogs were found in Arevalo.
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- This wound on the neck was alive with maggots. Now the bitch is cured, well and in a home in Belgium.
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- This bitch was found in South Madrid. We guess that she was hanged and managed to break loose. Fermin and his helpers have been treating her wounds and already they are looking better.
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- This is what Scooby can do to help an animal! Look how this neck has healed up.
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- Dragged by a car. Near Medina. She has a spinal fracture and a fractured hip.
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- This dog was found near Medina, only has 3 legs. This dog was found near Medina, only has 3 legs. This dog was found near Medina, only has 3 legs.
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- A close up of the stump.
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- Caught in a fox trap near Medina. The trap is illegal. The dog was lucky as he did not lose his foot as others have.
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- This is Dos Patas (“Two Legs”). Fermin traveled 1000kms to pick up this bitch from Cuenca. Her owner tried to shoot her because she was pregnant, but succeeded only in blowing off two of her legs. She gave birth to her pups in the street where she lived a further six months. When Fermin picked her up she was pregnant again. She was always a wonderfully loving dog and bore no grudge against the human race who had abused her.
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- Here Dos Patas is now in her new home in Belgium.
Epilogue
We regret to say the above photographs represent only a fraction of the tragic material gathered since Fermin started his work for greyhounds in February 1997. The hanging of greyhounds has decreased dramatically in the Medina del Campo areas but instead, Scooby received this year 300 unwanted greyhounds into their refuge in the two months following the end of the hunting season. The hanging of greyhounds elsewhere in Spain continues albeit less conspicuously in some areas. Animal Welfare Groups and the Guardia Civil say that it is continuing but has gone underground.
Our solution is:
1. To offer sanctuary to unwanted greyhounds as an alternative in the interim.
2. To lobby the Regional Ministers of Agriculture to, in the first place accept that such atrocities happen, and in the second place, to address the problems of:-
a. over breeding of greyhounds.
b. lack of animal welfare considerations in the use of dogs in sport or hunting.
c. financing of refuges or euthanasia of unwanted dogs.
d. promoting education and publicity material on the humane treatment of animals and the awareness of them as sentient beings.
3. To lobby the Regional Ministries of Justice to enforce the many existing laws in Spain concerned with the protection of animals. Laws exist but they are not enforced.
Please write to the Spanish Ambassador in your country, making sure to ask for a response. By all means, send print-offs of this site.
Two sample letters (in Spanish, English, French, German and Dutch / Flemish) are elsewhere on our site for your guidance and use.
Finally
Help Scooby and GIN continue the work for these blighted dogs. We are both very small charities and have to do this work in our spare time as we need our jobs to subsidise the costs. We may be short of time and money, but we are not short of dedication, perseverance, and love for these animals.
Out of the Darkness and into the LIGHT.
One – step – at – a – time.
Anne Finch
Founder of Greyhounds in Need