From Bev Farmer of Podenco Friends

Recently, a Podenco was found dead, discarded in the rubbish, tied inside a black plastic bag.  She had a broken leg.

In 2003, Tilly, the first Podenco I ever adopted, was also thrown away and left to die. She had been dumped in a rubbish container with a broken leg.  But Tilly was stubborn. She was strong-willed. And somehow, despite everything, she found the strength to keep barking until someone heard her.  That someone changed the course of her and my life.

And here we are, 23 years later… and it still hasn’t stopped.

The Podenco recently found had no microchip, but the collar he wore weee the colours so often chosen by hunters for their Podencos, red and yellow, the colours of the Spanish flag.  Colours worn as a symbol of national or regional pride.  For me, there is something deeply disturbing about that.  Because how can you claim pride while treating a living, breathing dog as rubbish to be discarded when their life is over?

Over the years, we too have taken in newborn Podenco puppies tied inside plastic bags and thrown away like garbage.

Sometimes, if I am honest, it can all become too much. After so many years, you don’t become immune to it. You still struggle emotionally. You still ask yourself why.  Why does this continue to happen?

RIP, unknown Podenco. I am so sorry that this is how your life ended.  You deserved so much more.  Now you are somewhere beyond the cruelty, beyond the fear and beyond the people who failed you.

Run free, beautiful soul. You will not be forgotten.