Problems in Spain

Many unwanted Greyhounds are shipped from Ireland and the UK to Spain where they face a life of hell. Most are Irish bred hounds. When they are sent abroad, every last bit of their racing and hunting ability is drained from them before they are abandoned or killed.

Hounds are bred for exploitation and suffer the worst abuse anyone can imagine. They are forced to live in such appalling conditions day in day out. They can be raced at the only remaining racing track in Barcelona, Spain (where over 700 hounds are kept). When kennelled they’ll be crammed into small cages for up to 23 hours a day with no air conditioning. Some cases have reported two dogs in one cage, making it impossible for both dogs to lay down at the same time.

They suffer from extreme hunger and thirst, many from open sores and urine burns. Trainers often feed them steroids and cocaine to substitute a proper diet, to improve their performance when they are raced. Injuries are common, and they are raced quite often, so recovery is usually impossible.

Hounds are also bought over from Ireland to use for hare coursing or as bait for pitbull fighting. The journey from Ireland to Spain is pure hell for the dogs, they are thirsty, hungry, hot and unable to move around as they are packed so tightly.

Some are kept in dirty windowless stables and fed only bread because the hunters believe if they’re hungry they will hunt better. Hounds can be left for days without seeing anyone. When the hunting season is over, so many more are abandoned and killed.

When the Hounds can no longer run fast enough or if they won’t chase hares they simply become useless to their owners and suffer an agonising death or are simply abandoned. Spanish rescues have found many dumped down wells, suffering from starvation and dehydration, or the remains of hounds that died unloved and alone. Hunters have been known to tie their dogs to trees and leave them to starve. Their owners want them to die slowly in pain, as a punishment for not being good enough, so they’ll be hung from trees with their back feet only just touching the ground, so when their legs get too tired to hold them they die.

People have been known to break into rescues and steal bitches, breed from them and simply abandon them afterwards. While there is still money to be made, these hounds will continue to be exploited.

Awareness article produced by and for Sighthounds Online. All content and images © Sighthounds Online