Abandoned dogs are, sadly, a common sight around the world. But in rural towns in Spain, a certain breed of dog, galgos, are being abandoned, abused and slaughtered en masse. 

What is a galgo?
Galgos are Spanish greyhounds. They are an ancient breed of hunting dog that used to be owned exclusively by Spanish nobility. Nowadays they are bred for coursing; competitions where the dogs are made to hunt hares or lures (mechanical hares). Similar to the more common greyhound, galgos are slightly smaller with a lighter build. They are known to be loyal, kind and affectionate.  Abigail Christman, from Galgo Rescue International Network (GRIN), calls galgos a greyhound with a sense of humor. 

Coursing with galgos in Spain
The coursing season in Spain runs from September to February. Galgos who are able to hunt the hares or lures successfully and quickly are rewarded. So are their owners, known as galgueros. The biggest competition of the year is held in January where the winning galgo and his galguero go home with the King’s Cup. 

Most galgos are kept for one to two seasons and then killed if they are not performing well. It is estimated that 100,000 galgos are slaughtered every year. 

Galgos suffer inhumane treatment 
In order to increase their odds of owning a winner, galgueros mass-breed galgos. It’s not uncommon for a single galguero to own 70-120 galgos. These dogs are often kept in terrible conditions, chained in concrete bunkers and given barely enough food to keep them alive. When one from the pack dies, the others will eat the corpse in order to survive. Training methods are equally as brutal. Many galgueros will tie 12-15 galgos to a motorbike or car and run them. The dogs that fall or get injured during the run are left behind.

After such an abusive training schedule and horrible living conditions, the fate of most galgos is even worse after their coursing career is over. Many galgos die in extremely cruel ways. They are drowned, thrown down wells, burned, doused in acid, have their legs broken and are left in the forest or even receive a lethal hit by a hammer to their skulls. There is even a tradition of hanging galgos. Galgos who were previous champions are hung off of high branches and die relatively painlessly.  However, dogs that embarrassed their owners are often hung on lower branches where their paws can just touch the ground, elongating the pain before their eventual death. These hangings become events for galgueros who invite their friends to attend and pack food and drink to witness the unnecessary death of man’s best friend. 

What is being done to help the galgos? 
Tina Solera and her family moved to Murcia, Spain in 2007. Solera was horrified by the sheer number of abandoned galgos roaming the streets of Murcia. She founded Galgos del Sol in 2011, an organization dedicated to rescuing galgos. Since its founding, Galgos del Sol has rescued over 1000 dogs. 

Thanks to organizations like Galgos del Sol and GRIN, the fate of galgos in Spain has improved in recent years.  New laws protecting the animals have come into effect and hangings have decreased. There have also been a number of high profile prosecutions of galgueros. But the majority of galgueros do not face any punishment for their crimes. 

However, rescue organizations are quick to point out that rescuing galgos and facilitating adoptions are not long-term solutions. The answer lies in public education. Solera attends galgueros events where she promotes the humane treatment of galgos. Initiatives are also in place to bring galgos into schools to teach the next generation how to care for them properly. Attitudes about galgos are slowly beginning to change. Metropolitan cities like Barcelona and Madrid are now seeing more young people owning and caring for galgos as pets, instead of hunting dogs. Let’s hope that trend carries over to Murcia and the rest of Spain soon.