The hunting season in Spain ends on February 1st.
At the end of the season, thousands of hunting dogs lose their use and therefore their reason for existence every year.
These are mostly galgos (greyhounds) but also other hunting dog breeds, which are used mostly for only one season, before being discarded in the most brutal way possible, as cheaply as possible.
This has resulted in a terrible habit, they are highly hanged, most often from trees. “The best” dog is found highest, the others below. Dogs that have proven to be less successful hunters are often “danced” while being mocked.
So in panic, the animals dance for hours (up to 2 days) from one hind leg to the other until they lose strength in their legs and suffocate. A cruel and long torment, full of fear and pain.
This procedure is called “playing the piano” by hunters, and these loyal and intelligent animals are humiliated to death. Most of the found dogs are emaciated, injured and in critical need of medical help.
The habit of breaking the legs of galgos before they are released should also be mentioned.
In this way, they can no longer hunt and return home to their owners. Every year, they are bred and forced to live in small cages with neglect and hunger.
They are trained to run as fast as possible by being tied to moving cars.
And then the brutal, painful massacre is repeated. Every year.
Hunters use the most barbaric methods to “get rid of” innocent dogs that are no longer needed.
190,000 Spanish hunters who practice this cruelty every year consider dogs as disposable items.
From this perspective, they breed dogs uncontrollably and excessively. This neglect is followed by mass killing and abandonment of galgos.
Galgos that prove to be the best hunting dogs remain alive to serve as “reproductive machines” for a new generation in the next season. Some Spanish animal rights activists these days tour rural areas, pass through forests and trees, but when they find something, they are almost always too late and can no longer do anything.
Spain is a living hell for those without a voice, whose suffering is degraded in the screams of the arenas, whose bodies lie in smelly shelters and who are hung high on the hillsides.
Animal abuse is a common occurrence in Spain, there are no limits to cruelty, but what to expect from a country that treats bullfighting and bullfighting spectacles as culture, legalizing animal abuse, where a weekly outing of arch-Catholic Spaniards to the bullfighting arena after church is a staple. Children are even taught that torturing animals is a meaningful and legitimate form of entertainment. Education in cruelty from childhood.
Corruption and nepotism rule, controls are rare, the justice system works slowly, and inhumane conditions are frequently found in animal intake centers (Perreras).
The situation with hunting dogs is particularly dramatic, they suffer like no other animal in Spain. Spain is now the only country in the European Union where hunting with galgos is still allowed. Galgos are choked in wells, thrown into rivers, live burned or covered in acid. Some have broken legs and are then left in the forest so they can’t return home.
Many dogs are not microchipped. Even if they are, the galgueros (their owners) extract the microchips before “getting rid of” their dogs. Many rescuers often do not report such incidents out of fear of retaliation.
Hunting is a popular sport, and obtaining a permit to kill is easy. Everything that moves is destroyed, traps are also popular, “real” Spanish men spend their free time this way.
More than centuries ago, galgos were a symbol of wealth and prosperity.
Today, they are a symbol of abuse and many Spaniards are ashamed that something like this is happening and tolerated in their country.
There is a way to help.
In Croatia, there is an association for the protection of such hounds:https://m.facebook.com/udomljavanjehrtova?eav=AfZudbYxpokkIz3B7QhMBZhcdxAG4m1DFwNcVY_4CQKYzMNPKZSDCkZfEAbbed5dyqY&refid=52&__tn__=%2As-R&paipv=0
This year, more precisely on February 04, 2023, a certain number of these dogs will come to Italy and will be ready for adoption. If you want to help these abused dogs, contact this association.