It’s easy to overlook that the popular holiday desinations of Ibiza and the Canary Islands are also part of Spain. Whilst Ibiza is quite close to the mainland, the Canary Islands are down in the Atlantic off the coast of West Africa. Life on these islands is hard for the animals – many used by tourists – whilst hundreds of others are used for hunting. Luckily there are rescue associations picking up the pieces, but the only hope of a life for an animal outside an animal shelter or refuge is to be adopted on mainland Europe.
This is the story of Mami, a Podenco Canario, whose mouth was taped up before she was dumped in the mountains on Gran Canaria, abandoned to a slow and painful death.
Here’s an absolutely fascinating article about the Portuguese Podengo/Podenco. I didn’t realise there were so many different types of just this one type of podenco. The more I learn about them, the more I love them.
HOW TO REPORT A SUSPECTED CASE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY
August 2011
There are increasing numbers of animal cruelty cases and people who come across them, often don’t know how to make an official complaint (denuncia) to the police. Seprona, the environmental arm of the Guardia Civil, has given the Costa Animal Society this set of guidelines on what to do.
Great news for people travelling dogs between UK and the rest of Europe. From January 2012 DEFRA will bring their rules of entry into the UK, whereby a dog only needs to wait for 21 days after their rabies vaccination, rather than have a blood test and then wait 6 months. Read more about it here
Great news! There is now an officially recognised vaccine against Leishmania, for use in European Union countries. Read about it here.
Podencos are totally different characters from galgos – who like nothing better than to curl up on a comfy sofa and sleep! Podencos are working dogs and therefore can make marvellous agility dogs. Here are some videos of podencos in agility, and also a Pharoah Hound, a similar breed.
These videos have to be one of the best reasons to adopt one of these deserving dogs. You can find dozens of them waiting for forever homes and maybe an agility competitor in the weblinks in Podenco Pals. Or check out the list of podenco rescue associations listed.
I've fostered quite a few podencos, mostly the rough-haired type, from mainland Spain. One of the most beautiful stories is that of Estrella. In December 2009 I posted a picture on Galgo News of 3 galgas and a podenca in a cell in the killing station in Jaen. Rescue of the 3 galgas was arranged but somehow the podenca was overlooked. I received an appeal from across the ocean in Canada – the podenca is still in Jaen, can you get her out?
So the wheels were speedily set in motion and the podenca was rescued and taken to a refuge. An association with whom I work closely, L'Europe des Levriers, then agreed to help get the podenca from Jaen to Madrid, from where I could collect her, along with other galgos we were bringing out to France for rehoming. So there we were, at the beginning of February 2010, meeting up with Estrella – as the podenca had been named – to bring her home to foster.
