Apologies, readers, that I didn’t get to publish this on 1st May, due to being tied up with other things not involving computers! Here’s what Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends wrote for Day of the Podenco.
‘I wrote these words on the 2nd January 2014 on the day we rescued Jasira, today I reflect back and still the battle continues. Maybe one day those with the power to affect change here in Spain will recognise the Podencos for the national treasure they are, for us we continue to be their voice.
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 today, 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, its 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.’
Since that day, 3 years on, several more associations are now formed concentrating on rescuing and rehoming podencos – including those from the Canary Island whose plight I have been publicising for the past 10 years! Hundreds of these fabulous but much abused hounds have found loving forever homes in Europe, Scandinavia, the USA and Canada. Let’s continue to support them and tell the world what goes on in Spain, the Canary and Balearic Islands – behind the beaches, sunshine, sangria…