Last 10 July we traveled to Cuellar to pick up some Galgos that had been already a long time wandering around. In the past, Mª Jose had tried to take them but as you will know hunting a galgo in an open field it is rather complicated.

This time people who collaborate with Scooby in Cuellar were able to lock them up inside a house in ruin. So that in principle everything had to be as easy as falling off a log.

We went there: Mª José, Fermín, Resy Jan an myself. We arranged to meet Caroline in Cuellar. She and Mª José went to pick up the key to open the house were the galgos were staying in and we drove to there.

It was really a house in ruin, we were fearful about stepping on the floor as one had the sensation it was going to come down any time, we went upstairs... and there we found the poor Galgos. Fearful and each of them ran to hide into a room as they saw we wanted to approach them, so we split in two groups: Mª Jose, Fermín and Resy went forwards to one side and Jan and I went the other.

It took us a while capturing them as they were so scared they even tried to bite us, and one of them broke a leash with no difficulty. While we tried to capture them some neighbors gathered at the main entrance of the house, and when we went downstairs with the dogs a man informed us that in another of the houses in ruin there was a hung galgo.

We went there to ascertain that it was true since, sincerely, I did not think in the heat of the XXI^st century these could happen. And indeed there it was the poor animal! There still exist people (to somehow call them) able to perform this sort of acts. There still exist hunters who are not only able to abandon his faithful animal, the one that once had run with him Sunday after Sunday, making him to have an amusing time, but he hang him. And in Spain only hunters have Galgos as a pet there. And this to happen in Cuellar, the town where the Chairman of the Hunting Federation is from and live in!. I point out this fact because this gentleman dares to deny that the hunters do not commit these sort of acts... No comments.

What can we do against it? Maybe if the authorities took further measures, fair measures, severe rules that would apply worldwide and to anyone without taking into account nationalities, perhaps the situation would change.

Some people warned us that 5 to 6 galgos were living in the open air on a field. We drove the van and we kicked the zone there, it was very hot and there was no shade at all, we did not see anything and we decided to go back. But once we were ready to go we saw a spot in the distance and we began to approach him, slowly so that he could not get scared of us, and the poor animal trusted us, we could take him with no impediment but there was no trace of the remaining 4.

It sounds utopia if I say I wish this not occur, that no animal was left... But with no doubt somehow it is not possible to allow that this happens in a developed XXI^st century and people continue hanging animals. I thought we were living in a civilized world but in the end there still exist people who do not even know the meaning of this word but does not even know that it exists.

These galgos are already in Scooby, they are being adopted little by little although the ones we found in the demolished house both are very fearful, but I am sure that our caress will lead to a satisfactory result.

Kind regards

María.

PS: this is the galga from Cuellar, one month later. She was completely wild when she was rescued, but now she adopted me and she follows me around everywhere I go. She adores me and always stays within a distance of two metres. All the volunteers are jealous because they cannot approach her. Today we took blood for a blood test, because she is very skinny and she doesn’t gain weight. She is really nice and her name is Laura.

Fermín.