Want to adopt a galgo?

Adopting a Galgo...

by Joanna W Simm

For many of us who have heard of the terrible plight of the beautiful Galgo dogs in Spain, adoption is an idea that we have embraced as something we can actually do to help. Most of us do not have a massive disposable income, so donating significant amounts of money is not possible, and we look for other ways to help. If you can sew, you can perhaps make dog coats to keep the galgos warm during the cold winter nights (yes, Spain does get cold!), and if you speak good French and have a friendly pharmacy or feed merchant perhaps you can talk them into donating out of date medicines or sacks of food with damaged packaging. However, the ideas of offering a loving forever home to a galgo with a sad history is irresistibly appealing to anyone who loves these dogs, has been moved by their plight, and feels they may have room in their heart and home.

Is adoption for you?

You do need to think very carefully before offering to adopt a galgo, because the last thing that these dogs need is a forever home that turns out to be a 'two week home'. Be certain that you are prepared to cope with a dog who may well experience problems settling into his or her new life, however desirable and better than what they have left behind it may be. Most of these rescued dogs are rescued because they have suffered, in some way or another, and certainly few will be used to the sights and sounds of a house, or indeed the rules associated with living 'en famille'. If you can't bear the thought of an occasional...or even frequent...toilet training mistake in the early days, if you are not prepared to patiently explain that food on the kitchen table is for people, not for dogs to take, if you aren't prepared to get up in the middle of the night to calm, comfort and resettle, then maybe you can find another way to help the galgos, other than adoption.

Consider your other animals too...

Most galgos are sociable creatures who forgive very quickly the terrible wrongs that have been done to them by men, but some never get over their training and indeed instinct to hunt. If you have cats, take extra care. This doesn't mean that you can't adopt a galgo if you have cats (I have five cats, and 3 greyhounds plus a veritable gaggle of rescued galgos...) but proceed with caution, be honest with the adoption organisation and ask that they try the galgo with cats first (this is done under safe conditions for the cat, I might add!). Even this is not a guarantee, but taken carefully, many galgos adapt happily to living with cats and can be found happily curled up on the sofa with them in many adoptive homes!

Other animals too need to be considered. Although rescue dogs are usually neutered as a part of the rescue agreement, sometimes adult male dogs can have difficulty adjusting to accepting another male into the home. If you know your dog is a dominant character, try to adopt only spayed females, (galgas), to avoid potential problems.

Neutering

Almost all rescue organisations will ask that the galgo or galga you adopt be neutered if it has not already been done prior to the adoption. There is a reason for this, and a very good one too. The problem in Spain that causes these poor dogs to be so abused and abandoned is caused by over population, over breeding. certain areas of Spain are literally so full of galgos that there is no chance of homes for them, hence so many end up wandering the streets, being dumped in shelters and dog pounds or even worse, ending up in the hands of the galguerros( hunters), or the gipsies. These people allow them to breed unchecked, pick what they want and treat the rest as truly disposable. Spain has this problem and we see the terrible consequences of it every day. When we bring galgos out to France we do not want to create the same problem, and this is why we insist that all galgos are neutered. It isn't that you, as an individual, are not trusted, just that a sensible policy has been adopted to try to pre-empt any problems and it must be enforced. If an exception is made for one, it will become the norm, with foreseeable difficulties in the future. Neutering does not harm the animals, not make them unhappy. In fact, it tends to preclude the possibility of the development of various cancers in later life, and removes the angst sometimes associated with the desire to find a mate, resulting in greater contentment.

Fees

The fees requested for the adoption of a galgo or podenco are another area that can cause discontent among would be adopters. People may feel, quite justifiably at first, that they are offering to take in an animal who is unwanted who needs a home, who may have problems, medical or psychological, and feel a little 'miffed' that they are also asked to pay a fairly large sum of money.

There are several reasons for the fees that are charged for an adoption. The first is to cover costs. Until you have worked in the rescue system, you can have no real idea of the massive costs that are incurred in each rescue. Firstly, it may be that a straying and possibly injured dog has to be caught, and this can take several people days of effort. The shelter then has to take over, paying for medical treatment, housing, neutering, micro- chipping, passporting, collars, leads, and eventual transport to the border of France for a hand over to a French rescue team. By now they have probably spent in the region of 200 Euros. Possibly a lot more. The French team then take over, transporting the dogs all over France to foster or adoption homes. Those in foster care still need to be fed, treated, housed, socialised etc. It all takes time and money. Adverts need to be placed to seek homes, and publicity materials need to be created to raise awareness of the problem. By now, I hope you can see, a fee of around 250.00 Euros is more than justified....and if by some miracle there is any left over on your particular adoption, there will be another needy galgo waiting in Spain, perhaps with a noose already tightening around his neck , who could perhaps be saved with that bit of extra cash.

Bonds

A quick word here about the payment of a bond, required by some organisations to be submitted in the case of the adoption of a puppy, a sick or badly injured galgo, or a dog who for some reason is unable to be neutered before the adoption. All that is required here is a cheque of perhaps 500 Euros, which is NOT CASHED but held until you submit the vets certificate to state that the neutering has been carried out. This may be alien to British minds, but it is a common practice in France, and is nothing to worry about as long as the organisation you are using is a bona fide charity such as L'Europe des Levriers or Amigos de Los Galgos. The cheque is returned to you untouched after the neutering.

Questionnaires and visits

You will almost certainly be asked to complete questionnaires about your home circumstances, you life style, your other animals, your family etc. Pleas don't consider this intrusive...the organisations who ask for this are just doing their job to ensure that the rescued galgo is not being taken from the frying pan and thrown into the fire. Equally, if someone comes to visit you, please don't feel insulted. It is standard practice. They want to be sure that you know what you are taking on, that you have a securely fenced garden (galgos do like to run, and are not the sort of dogs you can let out onto an unguarded doorstep each morning !)Remember too that the person who visits you, or who asks the questions, has a common cause...namely the well-being of this beautiful breed of dog we know as a galgo.

Is adoption still for you?

I do hope so. There are so many of these beautiful, gentle and loving dogs being terrorised and killed in Spain, they need all the love they can get. They give it back, in spades. I promise.