Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends tells the story of JASIRA

‘I see so many Podencos in so many terrible situations. I see them by the roadside badly injured, having been hit by a car and left to die. I see them wandering the countryside, emaciated and very often with broken limbs. I see them with their spirits all but destroyed from having been incarcerated in a perrera.

After this amount of exposure to such horrific sights, it’s hard not to begin to accept this as the norm here in Spain. Most of our rescued podencos require a lot of care to bring them back to good health, both physically and mentally.

But now I have seen something which shook even me to the core. I have seen some terrible sights but this has to be one of the worst.

I am angry! I am angry not because of how she got into such a lamentable condition, rather because we are powerless to stop it.

I am angry that the system here in Spain is so woeful that there is very little in the legal system to protect these beautiful noble creatures.

The podencos face 2 battles – firstly they are abused and exploited by a particular group, and secondly very few people are prepared to adopt a “hunting dog”. The podencos themselves of course, have no voice. Thousands are born into a life of subjugation every single year.

We have to help them. We must be their voice. Very few of the 57.7 million tourists visiting Spain in 2012 (compiled by UNWTO) will ever see such atrocities but for those of us who live here, it’s a daily occurrence. If there is one thing that everyone can to do to help, it is to share this girl’s story. Please share and let’s spread the word around the world. Let people see the other side of Spain.

We took Jasira straight to our vets who did a number of initial tests and more will follow in the next couple of days.

At the moment she is negative for Leishmania but we only did a snap test so bloods will go to the labs for a more thorough test. Negative for Parvovirus and ehrlichia.

She is positive for coronavirus, Giardia and filaria but a type that is not producing Heart worm. Her bloods show kidney function is good, slightly elevated enzymes in the liver and anemia. She has very bad diahorrea and has received medication to help this. There is a tumor on her front leg, many sores on her body and a very strong odour coming from her body.

She will have an ultrasound to see if any there is any damage to internal organs

A very positive sign, she ate some food and was drinking and is on a drip to give her fluids and will remain at the hospital for the next 48 hours.

So at the moment we can not give an explanation why this girl is so emaciated and our vet believes is something more serious than just starvation. There is underlying cause why she can not absorb any nutrition.

Jasira is comfortable and has a very gentle nature and was interested in her surroundings and for the moment is in the best place she can be in the care of the professionals.’

Bev tells me a local hunter saw her with Jasira and was horrified one of his countrymen could let a dog get like this.

The story first appeared on facebook and Bev says she has enough donations to pay for the vet care