One of the biggest sorrows that can happen to a living thing is being born a greyhound in Spain. Those of us who try to help this noble and sweet breed in Spain know very well that all is against us when it comes to save these unfortunates in a country where there are no efficient laws and those we have are on scrap paper and where everything is set for hunters and galgueros to play their part. It is clear that this group of people are without scruples have strong influences in politics. I am just going to tell you a few examples of the powerlessness and desperation that we feel. Near my house in the field there is a greyhound hunter with his poor greyhounds all day, locked up in a kind of cave that he himself has made with stones. The poor dogs stay there all day locked up in darkness. A lot of days you can hear them crying for hours and he only lets them out twice in a week. They don’t eat every day and when he goes hunting there’s one that’s missing from those I normally see and brings another new one from another place. My heart aches thinking that in some place that missing greyhound is dying hanged from a tree. This man is very cruel! And you would think, why haven’t I done a denouncement?!! I had! I’ve been denouncing this for years and the Madrid Community is of no use, it throws all the denouncements to the trash and the police don’t even bother to go, but I don’t dare to go and take away the dogs because it’s private property, then the laws would work and they would quickly arrest me and take me to jail.

Another example happened this past August. We have denounced a gypsy that lives in a flat in the area of Madrid near the train station. He has two poor greyhounds living inside an old van totally closed and in full sunlight. Sometimes at 40 centigrade we have gone to see them and your soul falls apart when they put their little heads in a hole they’ve done with their tongue out half asphyxiated. The most we have gotten is a municipal veterinarian that certified how bad their state is; they’ve opened a file of fines that he never pays but the police do not do the most important thing, that is to take out the greyhounds from the van. They don’t do this because no one has ordered them to apply article 30 of the law that says that in case of mistreatment to an animal he should be summonsed by the administration. This never happens and the greyhounds are still there, the gypsy watching the window with a rifle in hand and it is impossible to take them away from him because he is a violent man.

There are a lot more cases like this one and our helplessness is huge and we feel alone and desperate as the poor greyhounds do, and we want to help them and we see them suffer. With their sad looks, they talk to us; they know we want to help them, that we are not like their cruel owners and from our greatest grief we talk to them and cry with them and always with a wall or an old car between us. They suffer from inside, we suffer from the outside. But we continue our fight and each day our numbers grow and we thank the support that we receive from so many countries and many people that have adopted greyhounds in their homes.

Thanks for never abandoning us.

Cristina Garcia Moreno:
Greyhounds without Frontiers.

Website: www.galgosinfronteras.org
Email: garciamoreno@teleline.es

Cristina by now is well known to many of you from the story of the rescue of Valiente in our last newsletter. Her organisation consists of a group of persons trying to help the galgos of Spain in difficult areas like Toledo and particularly for her efforts of getting out from one of Madrid’s poorest municipal dog pounds, Canto Blanco, the galgos before they are euthanized when their seven days are up. 60 of these she has sent to Germany mostly in the last year with the help of GIN, Pro-Galgo, Galgos In Not and in France Magdalena Pelegrin. Cristina is a piano professor and loves Mozart, Chopin and Liszt. Here, a famous Spanish pianist dedicates a CD of his playing, entitled El Piano Romantico, for the benefit of Cristina’s work with Galgos Sin Fronteras.

There is a choice of Spanish or German text. On sale at 10 Euros. Incl. postage to Europe-15 Euros & to USA -20 Euros. Wrapped up well, it will probably be safe enough to send notes with your order to;

Cristina Garcia Moreno
C/Sta Barbara 7-3C,
Majadohonda,
MADRID 28220
Spain.