ALTARRIBA FOUNDATION PRESS RELEASE
BRUTAL ATTACK IN TOLEDO
With regard to the recent robbery and brutal mutilation in Toledo of a dog, whose body was found in a rubbish container, where she had bled to death during the night after her legs had been cut off with an axe, Altarriba Foundation wishes to state that:
1.Such atrocities occur on a daily basis in Spain. They go unpunished, owing to the failure of the relevant authorities to take action to protect defenseless animals and their owners.
2.Every year Spanish protection societies rescue hundreds of domestic animals that have been mutilated, hanged,
thrown over cliffs, had their throats cut, been poisoned, shot or struck with an axe. We have no support from the authorities at any level and, very often the police do not even intervene to identify the perpetrators.
3.Even if not broadcast, events of this nature (including dog-fighting, the hanging of greyhounds and attacks on dog shelters) are becoming increasingly common and more and more vicious. However, at official level, both nationally and internationally, either it is denied that they take place or they are described as isolated incidents.
4.The Spanish Penal Code does not describe these actions as crimes, and the punishments it imposes are so light that we have to take the perpetrators (when identified) before administrative courts, to get at least a reasonable fine.
5.The Spanish Penal Code is currently undergoing significant amendment, but there has been no revision of the content relating to the maltreatment of animals, even though it had been promised and even though relevant amendments have been suggested; these have been ignored.
6.Any legal initiative to improve the status of animals in Spain, is meticulously examined so to ensure that it does not subsequently affect bull-fighting; an activity so uncompromisingly protected at political level that the widespread abuse and maltreatment of all animals is tolerated.
7.In 2002, after the brutal attack on 15 dogs in Reus, in a two-month national campaign coordinated by Altarriba Foundation, 600.000 people of different ideologies signed a petition calling for cruelty to animals to be classified as a crime in Spain. Today, most Spanish voters support resolute and serious legislation against animal abuse, which would also ensure better co-existence between humans.
8.Animal protection societies often see how complaints about cruelty to animals are covered up or “lost” on official' desks.
9.The current level of violence against animals in Spain is indefensible, and places us among the worst of the developed countries, with a reputation abroad for brutality which is also denied at political level.
10.We ask our authorities to take a clear and public stand against cruelty to animals, free from the need to be "political correct”., and to accept the views of the majority of the citizens whom they serve.
Following on from the previous point, we hope that Spain will join the growing number of western countries that have already condemned the slaughter of seals in Canada, an initiative disdained last year by the same politicians who now govern our country
(http://www.altarriba.org/peticion-focas.htm).
The Altarriba Foundation, as a parallel measure, supports the fiscal objection campaign, launched by StopOurShame, to put an end to the injection of public money into activities involving cruelty and ill-treatment to animals, which is usually accompanied by linguistic palliatives and has well-known supporters.
(http://www.stopourshame.com/es/guia.pdf).
Finally, we demand the political will to carry out a thorough reform of the Penal Code, as promised, and a serious, resolute and realistic national legislation, in accord with the will of the citizens, which imposes severe penalties for actions of this kind, that keep Spain “dark” and “impenetrable”, both adjectives which, in the light of the current situation, are clearly well- deserved.
Fundación Altarriba, Amigos de los Animales.
Barcelona, May 24th 2007
1050 UNSPEAKABLE IN PURSUIT OF THE UNEATABLE IN GALICIA
Again this year foxhunting was carried out in the Spanish northwestern Galician autonomy. 1050 killers were let loose in a very large wilderness area, were they managed to destroy 63 animals. This time there were successfully disturbed by groups of protesters, so the number of foxes killed was lower than it could have been.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/veinticuatro_horas/noticia.jsp?CAT=39160&TEXTO=100000119455
http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/203592/1/caza/zorro/galicia/
GREYHOUNDS IN SPAIN: the real problems
By Mo Swatek Garcia Santos, founder of PRO-GALGO sighthound rescue, Barcelona
Many of the rescue groups and shelters in Spain can not understand, why the cruel hanging of the of hounds is again given so much protagonism and nobody speaks about the horrible way the poor sighthounds live. This way of killing Galgos is only the consequence of a long term suffering and it is obvious that the hangings in Spain are less frequent than some years ago and not at all the major problem for the Spanish hunting hounds. The problem is the way the hunters keep the dogs and that there is no control on them.
The poor Spanish sight hounds are born to suffer all their live as they live in the worst conditions any of us can imagine. Barely receiving any food and if so, they only are fed with hard bread and water because the hunters believe that a hungry hound hunts better. The dogs have to live in dirty holes in the ground, in windowless stables or cellars, in complete darkness, sometimes for days unattended and without a chance move. Many of the dogs are chained to a tree and left there until the hunters remembers them and often they are dead when he comes back again.
The gypsies are also to be blamed for their way of keeping Galgos and many shelters accuse them of having broken into their premises and having stolen Galgos to use them as sparring partners for dogfights. And on top of it, in nearly every forest in the hunting areas you find abandoned and injured Galgos wandering around.
More than 60% of the Galgos found have wounds from bullets or broken legs etc and of course looking like a walking skeleton. Some Galgos have even been found abandoned at the airport Barajas Madrid or in the town centre of Madrid. Because of the continuos mistreating the suffered, the dogs are very timid and shy and it is often impossible to catch them to bring them to a shelter. Many of them die a senseless death run over by a car.
We calculate that less than 2’500 hounds will be saved this year and this is probably not even 10% of the Galgo population in Spain!
The Spanish government is very much involved in the mistreatment of animals as they maintain the perreras (killing stations or so called city dog ponds) where the abandoned dogs are “stored” until their destruction. Usually it is around 10-14 days before they get killed. If a injured Galgo is found, the animal will not receive any treatment, no vet attends them and nothing is done to save them from suffering because the people at the perreras do not believe that this dog have a chance to be adopted. It can easily happen that a galgo with an open fracture of the femur is for 2 weeks unattended and suffers the most terrible pain.
If we could force the government to appy the new law for protection of animals also on the hunting dogs and if the SEPRONA (Spanish environmental Police) would check on the hunters and reduce the maximum of dogs per Galguero to 5 or less, many of those guys would stop keeping Galgos as it would be far to expensive for them to build kennels accordingly to the standards.
Again, I’d like to repeat, the hanging is just the tip of the iceberg, the real problem is at the galgueros/hunters where the dogs suffer their live long and even at the official perreras (city dog pounds) where not even the most minimal animal rights are respected.
And even if some big international animal welfare groups and the international press ignore us and our efforts, we are many shelters and rescue groups in Spain and all over Europe to work successfully for the Spanish Galgos and Greyhounds in need but we can only do it with YOUR HELP!
Hunting puppy shot in the face: common practice by hunters all over Spain.
* * * * * *
Another story of extreme cruelty to greyhounds in Spain
by Fermín from Scooby
Yesterday evening, on January 6, we received an emergency call from a man from a village not far from Medina del Campo. He told me that he was driving with his car past a well in the middle of nowhere, when he lost some part of his car. When he stopped to take a look, he found the part and instead of leaving it on the place where it fell down, he decided to throw it in the 30 meters deep well close to him. After he did that he heard dogs screaming from out of the well, so he decided to call me.
Today we went to the well and with the help of the fire department we were able to save 5 Galgos, left to die. The rescue was very difficult, but fortunately and miraculously these 5 dogs don’t have serious wounds. They are in a very bad condition and dehydrated, and underfed. And when you look at the photos, you can imagine that the smell was awful and I am absolutely sure that many Galgos died in there.
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