Spain has a bad reputation for animal cruelty. We’re all familiar with the traditional bullfighting, which has thankfully been banned in the region of Cataluña, but there is another popular sport; hare-coursing and this raises a grave issue for the nations Galgos; the Spanish greyhound.

Every year at the end of the hare-coursing season in February, thousands of greyhounds (Galgos) are abandoned or killed by their owners. They are found all over rural Spain (but for the most part in the regions of Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Madrid and Extremadura) hung by the neck from trees with their paws barely touching the ground, others have their throats slashed, some burned alive or thrown down wells.

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE COURTESY OF S.O.S GALGOS

A few weeks ago, I met with S.O.S Galgos, a charity run by Manchester native Anna Clements and her Catalan husband Albert Sordé de Uralde who help rescue and re-home around 350 greyhounds a year. These dogs have gone through hell and survived, but deeply traumatized. I had the chance to meet a really sweet Galgo who had both of it’s front legs broken and skinned raw, after being dragged by a truck. Recovering well, I’m happy to hear it’s gone to a lovely new home now. If you’d like to help in any way, please visit their website for more info: http://www.sosgalgos.com/

Those that aren’t lucky enough to be rescued and somehow survive the ordeal, may end up at the municipal dog shelter in HORRIFIC conditions. According to the reports I have read and the graphic images I have seen, dogs are simply abandoned for days at a time, left in small compartments surrounded by their own excrement, with little to no food at all. Some starve to death, while others will eat each other alive. Injury and illness is left untreated, due to lack of veterinary service. And when the time comes to put the poor dogs out of their misery, instead of administering euthanasia in a dignified manner, some will be executed in a gas chamber, while others are given a cheap muscle paralyzer with no prior anesthesia causing a slow and painful death. Hopefully people will think twice before giving their pets the death sentence by dropping them off at the local shelter. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT: http://www.animalhelp.es/perrerasmunicipalesdeespana.htm

The fact that humans can committee such horrific cruelty to our fellow beings makes me sick to my stomach. Violence breeds’ violence no matter what the target is.