World Galgo Day

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Today is World Galgo Day. Galgos or Spanish Greyhounds are gentle sighthounds who are used by ‘galgueros’ (hunters) in Spain during the hunting season which ends on 1st February. The number of galgos who are well cared for by their galgueros remains small. The majority of galgos are poorly treated during the hunting season and will be abandoned or killed as soon as the season is over.

A number of concerned and kind-hearted souls have begun to bring light into this shadow. They have created shelters where abandoned galgos can be cared for and rehomed into loving homes. They put pressure on governments to protect the galgos and have them recognised as sentient beings. When people come together in love and kindness miracles can happen. We pray that all galgos will be able to enjoy the kind of blessings that have come our way.

gentle hounds
deserve a soft landing
in loving homes

© Xenia Tran

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Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, setting: iA, 1/500 s.

Additional Information:

The campaign by Pet Levrieri resulted in the successful ban of greyhound and galgo racing in Argentina and they are now working towards similar bans in Chile and Uruguay. You can read their inspirational story when you follow the link.

Galgos del Sol is a galgo rescue organisation based in Spain that currently rehomes galgos in the UK, USA, Belgium, The Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Greyhounds in Need (GIN) is a UK-based charity that supports galgo charities in Spain with veterinary care, blankets and coats for the dogs, renovation of shelter spaces, transport and education programmes. They rehome greyhounds and galgos in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Please note that if you Google ‘galgos’ or ‘world galgo day’ you may find some of the images you see very distressing.

In response to Discover Challenge: Speak Out

Dutch Goes The Photo Tuesday Photo Challenge: Land

Carpe Diem #1140 – Arriving At The Right Moment

dVerse Poets – Have a Heart

 

Author: whippetwisdom

The stories, poems and photographs on this blog are the original creative work of Xenia Tran. Inspired by life in the Scottish Highlands and in awe of nature she gives voice to the wisdom of her adopted and fostered whippets.

71 thoughts on “World Galgo Day”

    1. Thank you for your kind words Annabelle. The shelters in Spain continue to grow and their education programmes in local schools are doing a lot of good in terms of changing mindsets of younger generations. Galgos are the sweetest dogs and yes, every dog deserves a loving home. Thank you for stopping by and much love to you, Millie and Pearl xxx

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  3. I know when I lived in Spain I was told that greyhounds where disliked and mistreated. There were rescue centres in Spain. So sad, greyhounds/whippets are such gentle dogs.

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  7. I had no idea. Why would they mistreat, abandon, or kill the galgos after the hunting season ends? Wouldn’t they need a dog for next year’s hunting season? Of course, I don’t understand any mistreatment of an animal. So sad, but glad to see that there are organizations trying to make a change for the better.

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    1. Sadly the majority of galgueros do not want to feed or house the galgos once the season is over. They prefer to get rid of them and then get a different dog for the new season. Thankfully more and more people are raising awareness, shelters continue to grow and rescue more dogs and education programmes are beginning to have a positive impact. Thank you kindly for your caring thoughts and much love to you and Tippy xxx

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    1. Thank you Amy, it is so sad and not that different from the greyhound racing industry where many dogs disappear when they are no longer needed. Many of the greyhound and galgo charities are working hard to raise awareness and bring about positive change. Thank you for caring Amy and have a blessed rest of the day 💖 xxx

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  12. The kind-hearted and gentle souls are so blessed. We have a greyhound park here in town which people have tried to close down for awhile. We also have a greyhound rescue for the older dogs…who can no longer race. They are the absolute sweetest……

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  14. What a beautiful haibun. I knew about rescues for greyhounds that were used for races in the U.S. but never knew about the plight of these poor animals in Spain. When I retire I wanted to adopt one. Thank you for sharing this. May I reblog this?

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  17. Thank you for sharing this. And thank you to everyone who’s welcomed a greyhound into their home. I see several around our streets quite often. One woman hops on her scooter at about 5.30am and the greyhound trots along at great speed as they head over to the offleash park. Looks fun all around.

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  18. A sad story Xenia. I cannot understand when a country allows (mostly men) to practice a culture of cruelty towards animals. As for hunting and killing animals I have one opinion….psychopaths with guns
    Is animal welfare low priority in Spain?

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    1. Thank you Denis and yes, the animal cruelty in Spain seems to be mainly practiced by men and condoned by consecutive Spanish governments. When Catalonia introduced a ban on bullfighting it was overruled by the Spanish courts and animal welfare does not appear to be a priority for those who rule the country. There is, however, a growing movement among the people to march and campaign on animal welfare issues.

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  19. Pingback: Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 42 – Dutch goes the Photo!

  21. What a lovely post. These people do indeed have big hearts. It reminds me very much of the plight of greyhounds in the US….they are racing dogs and appear to have somewhat the same body build as these dogs. More and more people are “adopting” greyhounds after their racing season is over.

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    1. Sadly they do not want to feed or care for them for the rest of the year. The breeding of galgos is unregulated and out of control too so that a galguero who has killed his dogs after the hunting season can get himself new dogs when the next season starts.

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  29. SMiLes.. my friEnd Xenia Tran and happy
    Valentine’s to you and your family and
    family of Galgo’s from Spain.. and aren’t
    all dogs and cats ambassadors of Love
    for when humans
    are not up
    to the
    task of
    Love… animals
    come into to feel
    the spot of fill when
    humans fail.. some sadness
    here as my mother has fallen
    ill on Valentine’s day and our cat
    Yellow Boy comes to snuggle sadness
    for he
    has
    feelings
    of Love..
    our pets are love
    and i say to the world too..
    pet
    love
    my FriEnd..
    what a wonderful
    refuge you make
    heAR for canine Love..:)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you my friend and happy Valentine’s Day to you, your family and your wonderful cats too. So sorry to hear your mother has fallen ill. Sending blessings and healing thoughts and much love to you all 💖 xxx

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