Cruelty in Spain

A Spanish Hound’s Lot is Not a Happy One

(Valerie Wood)

Unfortunately, here in the South of Spain abuse towards animals is still rife. In 2003 the Spanish Animal protection Law was passed and many hoped that things may change a little. This law, amongst other things, forbids physical abuse, maiming, keeping dogs on short chains and abandoning dogs – all of which are still commonplace because the law is rarely applied.

Hunting dogs in Spain particularly suffer. The most popular dogs used for hunting in this area (Almería) are the Podenco Andaluz, Ibizan Hound and the Spanish Galgo (greyhound). Given a chance and some care Galgos, Ibizan Hounds and Podencos are gentle, friendly animals and make lovely pets. Unfortunately, the lot of a Greyhound, Ibizan Hound or Podenco is often far from a happy one. These dogs seem to be treated as the lowest of the low in the Spanish dog world. They are simply viewed as disposable items and only worth keeping for as long as they may serve a "useful" purpose.

They often live in the most appalling conditions. They are put into dark and damp "kennels" where overcrowding is rife and breeding and interbreeding is not in any way controlled. The "kennels" are rarely cleaned and the dogs often have sores and "wet excema" because of the filthy conditions in which they are kept. Often the outbuildings in which they are kept are in isolated locations and the dogs are visited twice a week and fed restaurant waste or chicken carcasses. They are usually starved for at least five days before they are taken out to hunt - "to make them sharp". These poor animals live in absolute squalor. Very rarely are the dogs kept to over 3 years old unless it is a bitch being used for breeding. Then the poor creatures can only look forward to hanging, being beaten to death, used as shooting practice, poisoned or even being buried alive!!

Hunters start the season with about 20 hounds and finish it with just a few. A favourite way to deal with dogs they no longer want is to let it "piano play". The unwanted dog is hung from a tree with the toes of its hind legs just about touching the floor. The poor animal will prance from foot to foot (thus the name "piano playing") in a bid to save itself from asphyxiation and its death this way can take many hours. Their mentality does not suggest to them that they pay money to take the dogs to be euthanased by a vet.

Another common way of getting rid of an unwanted greyhound is to take the dog in the boot of their car (so the dog doesn't know where he is going), and abandon the dog somewhere it doesn't know. Now, and this is even hard to write, if the loyal dog follows the car, which it commonly does, the hunter stops and breaks one or more of the legs of the dog so he cannot follow any further.

At the PAWS shelter in Almeria (Spain) we receive some dogs with horrible injuries and others with haunted eyes who are terrified if approached by a human (thanks to the way they have suffered in their hands in the past). Amazingly, given time and love, most of these dogs recover sufficiently to be rehomed. One such dog, Tigger, was rescued by a Spanish volunteer. No longer wanted, Tigger was thrown out and his leg broken to prevent him from returning home. Of course, with a broken leg poor Tigger was unable to hunt for food and he was slowly starving to death. Thankfully he was rescued just in time, it is thought that he was just hours from death. His broken leg was successfully treated and with TLC and a good diet Tigger recovered well and is now living very happily with a family in Holland. These animals capacity to forgive humans never ceases to amaze and is most humbling.

It is very difficult for us to rehome these dogs in Spain for various reasons, one reason being that ideally these dogs need experienced hound families to provide them with the lifestyle that they require and another being that it is commonplace for the hounds to be stolen from people’s gardens in Spain. We home a number of them in Holland each year but we are now also preparing the international paperwork for these dogs to be adopted in the UK. Ibizan Hounds and Podencos are not a very commonly seen breed of dog in the UK and we are trying hard to generate interest in these beautiful dogs and, thus, to hopefully find success in homing some of these wonderful creatures there.

We continue with our struggle for the welfare of dogs but until the Spanish Authorities start to take the issue of maltreatment of animals more seriously the battle will remain relentless and dogs, particularly Galgos, Podencos and Ibizan Hounds will continue to suffer atrocities.

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