In Spain many greyhounds are abandoned and not all cases end
well. "Greyhounds are found severely beaten, burned alive, doused with
acid, thrown into wells, in caves and abandoned tied to death, hanged or
tortured in other ways," according to the complaint letter from the
Intergroup for Animal Welfare of the European Parliament in 2011 . In recent
times Animalist Pacma Party and other associations have been protesting against
abandonment or extermination of the greyhounds at the end of the hunting
season. The 10.4% of stray animals and animals collected in refuges in Spain,
were the result of the end of the hunting season, according to the results of
the Study of Animal Neglect 2010 that made the Affinity Foundation. The figure
increases in places like Extremadura province where it reaches 30.4% or
Castilla La Mancha province which comes to 21%.
These animals are used for hunting in the open, a mode in
which the dogs (usually run in pairs), without the help of his owner, hunting a
piece (especially rabbits) after a chase, but are also used in the big game
hunts. In the hunts the hunters move in single file , walking in silence until
the hare jumps and begins a frantic flight. Then the cover man releases the greyhounds and the chase begins. Each year
marks a Championship of Spain which ends in mid-February, the last held in the
town of Avila in Madrigal de las Altas Torres.
There are 180,000 in Spain galgueros(Hunters) caring” for
about 500,000 greyhounds, according to the Spanish Federation of Greyhounds.
According to the organization, which is dedicated to the promotion of hunting
dog, abuse cases are therefore a minority. "The Federation",
explained in a statement, "has conducted a study which shows that the greyhound
breed is the one that receives most attention in real time from their owners,
around four hours a day is devoted
exclusively to the greyhounds, playtime, walks, feeding, cleaning, training,
vet and hunting. The rest of the day the relationship is similar to that of any
dog or hunting companion, as appropriate. " They argue, too, that the
hunting of hares with greyhounds preserves other protected species inhabiting
the same ecosystem as the hare, as are various prey, the Houbara bustard or,
among others. The Federation shows its total rejection and condemnation of the
abuse and neglect of greyhounds.
Others oppose frontally to continue this practice. "The
hunting dog is a hunting activity using the animal as a weapon. In other types
of hunting, the dog does relief work, cornering the hunted animal, for example,
but in this, the greyhound is the actual weapon, the shotgun, as galgueros(hunters)
are unarmed, "said Cristina Garcia Rodero, president of the Greyhounds
Without Borders association. "It's a mode that, although there is no
common European law, is prohibited in one form or another in all EU
countries," he says. From this partnership and others calling for the
abolition of this form of hunting. Explain constantly receiving a trickle of
emails notifying the occurrence of abandoned dogs, but at the end of the season
there is a peak accused. "The worst problem is that the dogs kill them
intelligence. It is assumed that when chasing the hare in the championships
they have to do the same twists as she does and
turn at the same points, follow the same path. When the Greyhound
realizes that cut diagonally to the path of the hare gains ground, grace is
lost and is considered a 'dirty Greyhound "says García Rodero.
Over 15,000 greyhounds are rescued year, although the animal
protecctionist assoiations estimate that about 60,000 are abandoned
Many greyhounds are later abandoned or worse, hanging, as is
often seen in macabre images that reach international news. When a greyhound is hang with the hind feet touching the ground, it is
said that he gets "to play the piano" because their front legs are in
the position of the pianists. This is something like a terrible Spanish
tradition. "They say that a greyhound is not worth a cartridge, so they
use a rope to hang them," says the president of Greyhounds Without
Borders. "Lately also burn them to avoid leaving any type of track."
The thing is not new: in 1991, the Irish Racing Board, a body that regulates
exports of racing dogs from Ireland, banned the export of these animals to
Spain to avoind them possible rotting hanging from a tree, which,
of course, does not give a good image of Spain abroad.
Fortunately greyhounds are increasing their value as pets,
perhaps due to the efforts made in various campaigns to promote adoption, and
many of those who survive and are collected in shelters end up being adopted in
Spain or abroad, as in some ofmy best patients like Blue,Torville, and Domino.Lovely
dogs,loving friends faithfull and cuddley.
Extract from El Pais
