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5 Apr 02 A new
investigation by WSPA has exposed the way in which thousands of Spanish
greyhounds (known as galgos), are hanged following the end of the hare coursing
season at the start of each year.
The remains of a dog,
still with the noose around its neck WSPA discovered dead dogs with nooses
around their necks dumped in shallow graves or lying under trees where they had
been hung and, on a rubbish tip outside the village of Rueda near Tordesillas,
investigators witnessed the gruesome sight of a dead galgo hanging
from a willow tree. The skeletal remains of galgos were commonplace as well as
evidence of hung dogs being set on fire, with melted nooses hanging above fresh
bones and ash on the ground below.
The lucky few are brought
to the shelter Alistair
Findlay, a WSPA investigator, said, " It is scandalous that Spain, a
country currently holding presidency of the European Union, is allowing man's
best friend to be so cruelly and callously abused in this manner. This is a
graphic example of why a national animal welfare law is so desperately needed in
Spain." At present, it is not illegal to kill
a dog by hanging in Andalucia and Extremadura, where there are no animal
protection laws. In Castilla y Leon, a law threatening a fine of 15,000 Euros (£39,540)
to anyone hanging a dog has yet to be enforced.
The dogs are checked over
and housed in kennels WSPA has written to the
Spanish authorities, calling on this EU member state to finally adopt a national
animal welfare law that would outlaw such cruelty. Spain's
Hanging Horror
WSPA is
encouraging letters of protest to the President of Spain.
Formulario escribir al Presidente
Minister of Agriculture
Ministra de Agricultura
Fax: 91.4675854 |
The
results of the investigation, carried out in the Castilla y Leon and Castilla la
Mancha regions of Spain in March this year with the assistance of Spanish
organisation Scooby (Sociedad Protectora de Animales Scooby), reveal widespread
evidence that the age-old tradition of hanging dogs in Spain continues to this
day. WSPA estimates that tens of thousands of galgos are being bred and killed
annually in rural areas.
WSPA
also learnt how dogs that have raced poorly are typically hung low in a slow
death known as 'the piano player' due to the frantic scrabbling of their legs in
a vain attempt to touch the ground. Those who have raced well are hung high,
resulting in a quicker death. Unwanted galgos may also be stoned, tied up and
left to starve, staked in a pond and left to drown or thrown into wells and set
on fire.
Sr. José
Luis Rodríguez Zapatero