It was the soulful eyes that got me.

When I first saw photos of the Spanish galgos, the look in their eyes touched my heart. Eyes that spoke of fear and sadness, eyes that hoped for a life of safety and love. I was inspired by the fact that a small group of very special people dedicate their lives to rescue galgos from cruelty and abandonment.

I did what little I could to help, financially and from afar. But slowly the idea of adopting a galgo began to crystallize in my thoughts. Each time I rejected it as impossible – I live in an apartment in a bustling city, in a building without an elevator, and I have a cat. But the idea kept growing and took on a life of its own. So I started to do some research to find out if it really could be possible. Finally I had to listen to the voice in my heart, and decided that I wanted to offer a home to one of these magnificent creatures. I knew that I wanted to adopt from Scooby, and I wanted a male because it is harder for them to find homes.

The day arrived and Ciro made the journey from Spain to Netherlands. Ciro is insecure and there were some questions about whether our home would be good for him. I was so excited to meet him after all the months of dreaming and planning! My first thought on seeing him was how beautiful he was, but he was too uncertain to allow me to approach. Soon enough though, with quiet patience and tasty treats, he allowed me to pet him. We went for a walk with the GINN volunteers and some of the other galgos. Ciro quickly accepted me and I felt deeply honored to have gained his trust.

Now he has been home for 2 months. His new name is Zuki. Each day his personality opens up more and his bond and trust in us steadily grows. He has been perfectly behaved and clean in our home since the first moment! He is wonderful with our cat and she has no fear of him. He walked down our building’s 4 flights of open spiral stairs on the second day, and soon was walking up after we started using positive reward training. He is not afraid of all the noise and traffic on the busy streets and is very good on the leash. He loves meeting people, children and other dogs. In fact, he wants to say hello to almost every person we pass on the street and so he is very popular in our neighborhood. I’ve made new friends thanks to him, just because everyone loves him so much! He absolutely loves riding in the car and in the Dutch-style box bike. We take him to an enclosed park to run free off leash, and then he expresses his pure joy as he speeds around the field with a huge grin on his face! He is happy now. On greeting us he wags his whole body from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, dances and prances like a little horse, and smiles at us. The only thing we still have to do is to convince him that he doesn’t have to cry when we leave because we will always come back.

To think that our journey together is only just beginning, and there is so much treasure yet to come! It is one of the best decisions I ever made, to listen to that persistent voice in my heart, and acknowledge the truth in those soulful eyes.

Laura Zonia, Ed Schenk and Zuki