Look at the face of this man…does he live in a cave, is he blind. Does he not see the reality of life for Podencos on Tenerife and the other Canary Islands? Here’s the link to an article in a local newspaper with an English translation.
Hunters and galleros of Güímar, Tenerife, with the support of the local hunting federations of the Canary Islands and the National Federation, have teamed up to present an initiative in defense of cock fighting and hunting with dogs and oppose a motion presented to the Mayor Carmen Luisa Castro (PP) by the United Canarian Network Against Animal Abuse, which asks for a ban on Cock fighting. controlling the use of hunting dogs and to put an end to experiments on animals in laboratories, among other measures.
Antonio Porras, a known defender of hunting and currently President of the Federation of the Cynegetic Management of Tenerife, points out that “the motion presented by the Society and the Gallistica of Güímar Association has the support of many Councillors, both of the Government and of the opposition”, and adds that “the Mayor does not know what it is doing”, because it cannot go against the interests of many Guimareros with something that is legal and that has a long tradition in the municipality”.
“We are not against improving the laws, and it is possible that Cock fighting may be somewhat cruel, but if they want to change the laws that has to be with consensus, and I know no one has called us, nor of the Government nor of any part”, said Porras, who last week met with the General Directorate for livestock which gave its “support for hunters”.
Similarly, Porras maintains that, contrary to what has been commented, “our dogs are well-kept and have a strict veterinary control. Another another thing, it is be subject to paying 1,000% of the cost of a vaccine against rabies or microchip, required by law and controlled through councils, for example. Also it should not have to be at the expense of the payment to private vets,” he declares angrily, while he defends the identification of dogs with tattoo , “because I am even more sure that the microchip and not a tattoo does damage to the dog”, says Porras, outraged with the lawyers for “trying to trick people about hunters”.
“In a group so large it is normal to cook up lies and just because there was a local policeman and a veterinarian involved in dog fighting in Güímar does not mean that all the police officers or all veterinarians are animal abusers, I say.”
The motion defended by hunters and galleros of Güímar, which will be discussed on 30th March in a meeting, was presented in the municipal register on 15th March by José Jacobo Gómez Curbelo, acting as President of the Society of the Regional Hunters of Güímar, and Oval Alfonso Hernandez, President of the Gallistica Association of Güímar.
After an extensive explanatory memorandum, which includes laws covering the hunting with dogs and cock fighting, the motion ends up asking for “the Güímar municipality to declare as traditional activities of its inhabitants in the practice of hunting with dog and breeding and selection of fine English cockerells for the practice authorized by law 8/1991 in its article 5.2 “. It must raise this agreement so that it is ratified by the Canaria Federation of Municipalities (Fecam), where both activities should be considered equally as traditional”. A motion which collides head-on with that presented by the Mayor Luisa Castro.
For Porras, a hoax – “that hunters mistreat dogs is a hoax by people who do not know us; No one appreciates a hunting dog than a Hunter”, said Porras, who says that “it’s lying to say that we let them die when already they are useless for hunting. If they die in the field it is because they have been poisoned or as a result of falls; When they see a rabbit they go blind”, says Antonio Porras.
Can you believe this man?!!
170,000 dogs and 18,000 licenses for hunting in the Canary Islands
La Canaria Hunting Federation controls 18,000 licenses, although, according to Antonio Porras, the number of hunters exceeds 20,000, because “there are those who are paying private insurance and do not require a license”. In Spain hunters account for more than one million, a single figure overtaken by the French (I’d disagree with that, hunting is on the decline), and in the Canary Islands there are 170,000 dogs dedicated to hunting, mostly Podenco Canarios, although also noteworthy is the presence of Andalusian, bracos podencos, pointers and setters.
Antonio Porras is not in favour of cross breeding podencos as happened in recent years, mainly because ‘we must care for the purity of the Canarian Warren Hound, an ancient race from Egypt who arrived in the Islands brought by the Phoenicians’, says President of the Hunting Federation of Tenerife, with more than 50 years dedicated to hunting, a practice that has its own Canaria law (7/1998) and which was not included in the law 8/91 on animal abuse.
http://diariodeavisos.elespanol.com/2017/03/cazadores-galleros-guimar-unidos-coto-guimar/
Report on Podenco Post in 2012
Report on Podenco Post 2013
Another report on Podenco Post 2013
Report Podenco Post 2017