Podenco Post

Starving to death in a coral in Cordoba!

There are no regulations in Spain to which refuges and shelters have to adhere.  Some are a living hell for dogs and cats which have already suffered from maltreatment and abuse.  This is a 'coral' in Cordoba where dogs including podencos are starving to death through lack of food and water.  When dogs get to this stage, they will even attack and eat each other.  There is evidence of this here.  El Arca de Noe Cordoba complained about the situation, and the authorities removed the dogs to the local pound.  Death awaits them, from lethal injection if they haven't already succumbed to infection and illness before them.

Zaragoza killing station - podencos desperately needing rescue

The hunting season is now over and hunters are getting rid of their '4-footed tools'!
These are the Perricos to be slaughtered in a few days at the Zaragoza perrera. This is the appeal I received

'We are only two volunteers who have many dogs in kennels which we pay the fees and we can't take any more dogs.  We have all this responsibility on our shoulders and we desperately need adopters for the dogs in our care, and more so we need special people who can rescue these young podencos before they are sacrificed in a few days.

SARA Lanzarote - rescuing podencos in the Canary Islands

Through my passion for greyhounds/galgos and subsequent involvement in publicising the plight of the galgos in Spain, I was introduced to the Podenco,  used in Spain and the Spanish Islands for hunting rabbit.  Whilst they are not abandoned each year in such huge numbers as the galgos, the life of a podenco runs parallel in many ways and they too suffer indescribable cruelty at the hands of the unforgiving hunters.

Through Galgo News I have met a couple of British volunteers who live on Lanzarote and are very involved with the SARA Lanzarote animal shelter and raising awareness of the problems faced by the podencos there.  What you will read here also applies to the life of a podenco on mainland Spain too.

Podencos - victims of Spanish hunters - hear their plea

The following stories have come in showing the unnecessary cruelty which hunters will inflict on their dogs when they are no longer of use nor wanted.  The first podenco was the victim of being hung by a steel belt!  The old one was abandoned at a petrol filling station, searching for food.  The third one - well, you can see the terrible condition, how long had this poor podenco been on the streets of La Cazalla (70km from Seville), with no food.  La Linea at Cadiz is one of the shelters which has hundreds of these dogs, all deserving a forever home.

And two tiny podenco puppies in the Seville perrera!  If you can help them, contact perrosurgentes@hotmail.com

Extremadura hunters - Fepaex says 'Take Responsibility for your Dogs!

Podencos and galgos both suffer unimagineable cruelty at the hands of the Spanish hunters and gitanos - Spanish gypsies.  Most publicity comes from the regions of Andalucia and Murcia, as well as the Spanish Islands Ibiza and the Canary Islands.  However, the Spanish interior including the region of Extremadura is also hell on earth for galgos and podencos.  Here is a report from Fepaex - Federacion de Protectoras de Animales de Extremadura.

THE PROBLEM for  HUNTING DOGS  in EXTREMADURA =  Irresponsible HUNTERS + passive and complicit

Podencoworld - Profile of its founder, Edwin

  Podencoworld is a marvellous website dedicated to publicising this much maltreated breed of Spanish and Portuguese hunting hound.  Like the Spanish galgo espanol, they suffer horrendous cruelty and maltreatment at the hands of the Spanish hunters, who show no mercy towards these loyal and affectionate hounds.  Here's Edwin's story.

I first came into contact with podencos around five years ago.  My cousin's dog was deceased so she was looking for another dog. To help her, I went looking for a puppy over the Internet. I was already searching for quite a while when I found a website from a foundation with Spanish adoption dogs.  Soon I got a smile on my face because I saw a dog with disproportionate ears, this was Chica. I liked her instantly, I thought she was totally awesome, every time again was I drawn to her picture and I became happy looking at that crazy little head with floppy ears.

Euro Group for Animal Welfare - action to protect cats and dogs

The Euro Group for Animal Welfare have just published their monthly bulletin and this includes an article about protecting Europe's companion cats and dogs.  Read more.

European Council gives green light for concerted action to protect cats and dogs

At the end of 2010 EU member state representatives voiced their agrrement for joint EU action to protect Europe's cats and dogs through harmonised policy on identification, breeding and trade.  They endorsed Council Conclusions on the Welfare of Cats and Dogs put forward by the Belgian Presidency.