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The Galgo situation in Spain

We recently received the latest newsletter from Anna who runs
SOS Galgos in Barcelona and have her permission to reprint this
article here. It shows the problems groups like SOS Galgos and
others face when trying to help the galgos.

The Credibility of SEPRONA

We have just learned of the official data that SEPRONA has provided about
the number of galgos abandoned in Spain in 2019. A total of eight. The groups
of galgueros take great satisfaction in spreading this figure and must be
the only ones who believe it! We do not know whether it is proof of the
indifference of the authorities or the inefficiency of the police because any
agency, journalist or member of the public can, by making a few calls to any
of the hundreds of shelters and pounds, find out that this is the number of
abandoned galgos rescued by each one of them every week.

Each year, huge numbers of galgos suffer cruelty, abandonment, hangings
and many other kinds of neglect. This is because they are considered mere
instruments for the enjoyment and personal prestige of thousands of
galgueros who pursue their hobby with the minimum administrative control,
whilst in every country around us, hunting with galgos has been banned for
years.

We have denounced this situation many times and have always come up against
the indifference of the public authorities. They are reluctant to confront a
powerful group of over 200,000 galgueros who breed, mistreat and abandon
thousands of galgos each year in their search for the fastest, in order to
satisfy their desire for a few minutes of personal kudos in the competitions
they organise in numerous areas of Spain. It is the sensitive side of Spanish
society which suffers the results of these practices every year with pounds
and shelters completely full. Country roads are full of galgos which have been
run over; abandoned survivors die of hunger and thirst in hunting reserves;
they are shot by hunters, thrown down wells and left in pine forests where
their suffering is indescribable. Worst of all, for nearly 20 years none
of these galgos appears in official statistics which should be drawn up by
public administrative bodies. Statistics which now show only eight yearly
abandonments which, as every animal lover who has ever helped knows for
themselves, is derisory.

Over a year ago, we asked Sr. Grande-Marlaska, a well-known animal lover, for
a small gesture in his privileged position as Minister of the Interior. This
gesture would represent a radical improvement in the welfare of thousands of
galgos which suffer in harrowing living conditions and face a tragic future.

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