The Work of GIN (2000)

Dedicated to the welfare and rescue of greyhounds everywhere, especially those in Spain.

The Work of GIN

This picture drove me in 1991 to travel to Spain for the first time to observe the conditions of the Irish dogs racing at the tracks in Barcelona, Mallorca and Valencia. I started in a small way bringing dogs back to England, taking out medicines and educational material to the trainers and track managers and working in the kennels treating the dogs for parasites and injuries. Eventually Valencia and Mallorca tracks were closed, partly due to our publicity work.

In 1995 I saw a video showing the hangings of galgos (Spain’s own breed of greyhounds) and went to Granada to research this. In 1997 a news item on Spanish TV about the hangings prompted me to contact Fermin Perez of Scooby Association, Medina del Campo, and offer help and co-operation. Over the next two years, with the help of Dai Lawrence who also transported the dogs for us, and the Normile family, GIN constructed kennelling, partitions, double doors and fencing within Scooby’s empty warehouse and paddocks.

 

We transported the contents of an entire surgery and operating theatre, 200 dog beds, two generators, a jet wash, tranquilliser gun, washing machines, blankets, bedding, coating etc and a row of 64 galvanised steel kennel fronts for 250 dogs. With this equipment and with the veterinary and maintenance  help and transportation we also provided, Scooby was able to shelter, treat, sterilise and prepare for export nearly 1000 abandoned greyhounds who had escaped being hanged at the end of the hunting season. We invoked the help of all our contacts in Europe and the USA to help find homes for the dogs and to assist Scooby financially. With all this help Scooby can now function independently, though we have continued to offer manpower, veterinary help and homes and salvation for their dogs.

We look now to the greyhounds so desperately in need of our help in other areas. From June to September 2000 we took in 140 dogs from all over Spain and boarded most of them at [boarding kennel owner] ’s kennels in Campello, Alicante, with its beautiful natural roaming areas of 12,000 sq.m, Her aim is to restore the dignity, health and well-being of these maltreated dogs. With [boarding kennel’s vet] , our vet, she prepares the dogs for export and adoption by our groups in the rest of Europe, and David Normile transports them in his ‘magic vehicle‘. We are liaising with the manager of the Barcelona racetrack from whom we have received 57 retired Irish bitches during this same period. We provided his track vets with a health programme to improve the conditions of their 800 dogs and have promised to take in their 200 or so retired dogs annually.

Altogether we have homed nearly 2000 dogs from Spain. We are currently preparing to import into the UK for adoption, 100 more retired greyhounds from Rome track, Italy and from the Republic of Ireland.

Our commitment to these blighted animals drives us, with passion and energy, to seek out the victims of cruelty, to defend their cause and bring them, using the highest standards within our power, to salvation, health and happiness.

Anne Finch on behalf of all of us in GIN who share these aims and objectives.

September 2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Help us to help the suffering greyhounds of Spain. Your donations can ease their pain”

Our work involves transporting the dogs from all over Spain into our care, then vaccinating, blood testing and treating them for Mediterranean diseases, micro-chipping, de-parasitating, sterilising them, building up their health with good nutrition and restoring their broken souls with love and attention ready for exportation to our adoption groups abroad.

This work is very expensive. We are very blessed that our boarding, veterinary and transportation costs consist of materials only.

Anne Finch

Author of:	“The Pet Owners Guide to the Greyhound”	Ringpress Publications.
Contributor to:	“The Ultimate Greyhound”	Ringpress Publications
Contributor to:	“Greyhound Tales. True Stories of Rescue, Compassion and Love”.	Lost Coast Press, California.
Contributor to:	“All Bets Are Off; The Race For Survival For The Greyhounds Of Spain”.	Three Hound Press, North Carolina.
Creator of:	“El Cuidado Del Galgo de Carreras”,	an educational video in Spanish, dealing with the full care of the racing greyhound