The Hidden Face of Hunting: The Chronic Disprotection of Galgos and Podencos.
In Spain, the idyllic image of the galgo running through the countryside often hides a dark and heartbreaking reality. These animals, endowed with unmatched elegance and speed, are largely victims of systemic lack of protection that condemns them to abandonment, mistreatment and, in many cases, to premature and cruel death.
Each hunting season, thousands of galgos are used to extinction, forced into a life of deprivation. They are not seen as companions, but as disposable tools. When they stop being "useful" for hunting, the luck of many is truly tragic: abandoned in ditches, hung in olives, thrown into wells, or simply left to their luck to starve and thirst. This practice, far from being isolated, is a constant that dyes blood at the end of each season.
The lack of unified and effective protective legislation at the national level greatly aggravates their vulnerability. Often, autonomous laws are insufficient or not enforced with the necessary rigor, creating a legal vacuum that allows these atrocities to go unpunished. Impunity is a cancer that feeds the cycle of abuse. For many strays, getting rid of an animal is easier and cheaper than keeping it or taking it to a shelter.
Animal shelters, overcrowded and with limited resources, are the only refuge for these abused beings. They are the ones who pick up hungry, injured, traumatized greyhounds, and give them the only chance to know affection and safety. But even within these sanctuaries, the threat persists, as evidenced by the dire risk of burglaries to be “reused” or, worse, to be exploited in illegal gambling networks.
The unprotecting of greyhounds is a reflection of a society that has not yet succeeded in fully empathizing with animal life. It is a reminder that the beauty and nobility of a race does not guarantee its well-being if there is no ethical and legal commitment to back it up.
Next demonstration: February 1, 2026.
Join in, do it for them.
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