The situation in Spain with galgos is very alarming. Galgos are Spanish greyhounds, and they are bred for hunting. Every year hunters in Spain overbreed thousands of them. They lead a terrible life of suffering, only being fed stale bread and water. Then at the end of hunting season they are either abandoned, or they are killed by horrible means, either by being hanged or being thrown down old artesian wells.
Below is the story of Arwen, one of the many thousands of suffering galgos in Spain. Arwen is now being cared for by Cristina Pascual in Palencia. Cristina has rescued many dogs and has been successful in finding homes for them after she nurses them back to health. She takes on great medical expenses and receives no help from local animal control.
Her most famous case was that of Milord, a German Shepard who had been badly beaten and left to die. He had no feeling in his hind legs and would have to drag them behind him. Cristina sent out a plea for help, and her response was overwhelming. She would drive many miles weekly to take Milord to a veterinary clinic for surgery and treatment. Milord now lives in Catalonia with his forever family.
Cristina is president of an organisation called "Asociación Socorro Animal Amigos de Milord" in Palencia, and her latest rescue was that of Arwen.
"Arwen does not want to die......Perhaps another dog in her state would have thrown in the towel....but she just keeps on fighting.....it didn't matter to her that she had multiple broken bones and torn tendons......it didn't matter to her that hundreds of maggots and ants were crawling around on her wound and sucking on her flesh and blood......she wants to live.
She only wanted to find her special angel....find that person who would offer a little of bit of human compassion in view of her lamentable state....we don't know if her leg will endure as much as she has, but as soon as she saw that a car door opened and offered her a ride....she did not think twice about it, and nearly without any effort, she used her last breath to jump into the car, and then she passed out ... now she could relax, her angel had appeared.
There were numerous phone calls, once again, asking for help for ARWEN. The animal protectorate of Palencia, as always, never stepped forward. The Asociación Amigos de Milord took the little dog, a beautiful galga who still today maintains the courage to live....."
Diagnosis:
In the left posterior extremity there is an abrasion away from the center point of attachment with a fracture of the four joints with missing skin and exposed tendon in the tarsus region, metatarsus of the toes with traumatic breaks in the extending tendons.
In the right posterior extremity there is an abrasion in the area near the knee affecting the capsular joint and with a torn toendon, an abrasion in the farther tarsus area affecting the tarsus, metatarsus and toes with missing skin and exposed tendon, fractures near the tibia and fractures near the tarsus.
Necrosis in all of the soft tissue and contamination due to maggots.
Written by: Cristina Pascual, (Palencia, Spain)
Translated by: Michael G Rodrigue
Through the help of Nuria Blanco and the organisation "Amigos de los Galgos", Arwen has a foster family waiting for her in France, as soon as she is well enough to travel.
If you would like to help, please visit
http://www.amigosdelosgalgos.org