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Type of Organization
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Their Work
SOS Galgos was established nearly 14 years ago, in order to report the unimaginable cruelty inflicted on Spain’s most abused breed of dog Spanish Greyhounds or Galgos. Their efforts are put forth through the media both on an national and international level in order to expose Spain’s widespread and quiet kept hunting traditions that involve torturing and killing close to 60,000 dogs a year. Galgos are repeatedly tortured during the hunting season by the hunters and trainers and then left to die a slow gruesome death when they are deemed no longer useful because it is believed that the longer they suffer, the more prosperous the following season will be. Some of the horrid methods are hanging the dogs by their neck in trees so that their hind legs barely touch the ground and they sway back and forth for days until they starve and die of exhaustion, thrown into pits and wells without food or water, burned alive and by inserting painful metal rods into their mouths so they cannot chew or breathe properly.
SOS Galgos strives to promote the Galgo as a companion animal within Spain, and to educate children in schools to help break the cycle of cruelty and promote empathy towards all animals.
Over the years SOS Galgos has managed to keep a balance with its rescue work rehoming nearly 2500 Galgos, educating children in schools with the assistance of the local police force and by working at lobbying to bring the attention of the plight of the Galgos to members of the European Parliament.
SOS Galgos continues to work tirelessly in this direction because its team strongly believes that the way forward is to put international pressure on the current Spanish government to help promote an improvement of the situation regarding this cruelty.
SPCAI has visited Spain multiple times since our partnership with SOS Galgo began in 2013 to work directly with them in their efforts to one day put a stop to this shocking brutality. In 2016, SPCAI committed a $40,000 in two grants from the Shelter Support Fund to their project. These funds will be used to help SOS Galgos build an educational facility to promote humane education, advocacy and Spanish Greyhound adoptions.
Ways to Help & More Information:
Please sign the petition to help amplify our voices.
Watch a short moving video by the SPCAI team to learn more about this terrible problem
Watch the Documentary: “February: The Fear of Spanish Greyhounds”
Spanish Greyhound Humane Education Center Opening in Spain – January 11th 2017
March Against Cruelty to Spanish Greyhounds in Spain – June 5th 2015
This Abuse Will Stop! – June 13th 2014
Testifying to the Spanish Congress – March 19h 2014