Fifth Annual West Coast Greyhound Gathering

Solvang, CA Feb. 27-Mar.1, 2009. Fifth Annual West Coast Greyhound Gathering

A fantastic turnout again for the Solvang Greyhound Gathering. The weather was perfect hound walking weather, sunny but cool in the mornings and evenings. WE had three fun filled days with over 150 people and their hounds attending. The Galgos also made a nice showing with Aluna, Amistad, and Alitas strutting their stuff. I was pleasantly surprised to meet a beautiful Deerhound named Meca who had been rescued earlier this year and adopted by GreytThreads owners. We were able to share stories about how GRIN had the opportunity to connect one of our potential adopters to adopt one of Meca's pups. Small world. Another pleasant surprise was a Sloughi named Lacey, who came to GRIN's attention for rescue last year, and after a few emails found her foster home which turned into her forever home and I was able to meet Miss Lacey in person at the Sunday morning walk. These sighthounds get around!

Dawn of The Creation Station in Buellton, right outside of Solvang, set up her sewing machine in the town park gazebo again this year, and worked hard on dozens of coats for the galgos. We are sorry she got ill and could not make it back the next day, but, we have lots of coats for the next haul! Thanks Dawn for braving the cold that day and see you next year. I was also happy to meet two of the famous Guam Dogs at Solvang, Thomas and Jenna, who accompanied Barbara Davenport of Homestretch for an afternoon at the gathering. Kudos to Homestretch for all their hard work and incredible determination to keep moving these dogs along.

The events were fun as usual, the Blessing of the Hounds, the Streak, Pizza night, Candlelight Ceremony, the Sunday morning walk and the highlight of the event for anyone who attended the Saturday night dinner was the presentation by Dr. Couto of the Ohio State University. A wonderful, humorous, interesting and very informative speech it was. Dr. Couto also gave some insight into his work at Scooby and showed many slides of galgos at the shelter. He discussed his ongoing health research with greyhounds and upcoming research with the galgos as well. He deserved the standing ovation he received from a very receptive and greytful greyhound crowd. I was also very surprised and thankful when Terri Rogo, the organizer of the event, asked me to say a few words at the dinner about the Galgos of Spain. These European cousins of the wonderful American Greyhounds are receiving the acknowledgement they so well deserve!

It was so nice to get the support of so many greyhound owners as GRIN received many wonderful donations for the galgos at the gathering. We collected over 200 martingale collars, 60 leashes, 35 coats and various other supplies as well. Everyone knows that GRIN will be back next year and I thanked everyone and reminded them to continue to collect their new and used donations all year for next year's gathering. We came home happy that the event continues to be so successful for the greyhounds who will benefit from the funds raised to help them in their needs as well. Greyt job Terri, Jodi and friends.

Telma Shaw
Board Member
G.R.I.N.
www.galgorescue.org

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Scooby Rescues 120 Dogs from Deplorable Conditions

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From the Scooby website: Back in November 2007, Scooby received news that there were 200 dogs in need in a small town in Sevilla, called El Cuervo. You can read about this rescue mission on our news page under November 2007 - "200 dogs found in awful situation in El Cuervo, Sevilla".
Fast forward to December 2008. We heard that Antonio had been forced to shut down his "shelter", so we have been waiting for the green light to go and rescue these animals. Thanks to the last few transports, we have made some room at the shelter to accommodate 80 galgos and 40 mix dogs. Last week, we got the green light that we were waiting for!

GRIN has donated $1000 towards Scooby's rescue mission!

On January 20, we made our the trip to Sevilla to get the first load of dogs. We will probably have to make 2 or 3 more trips to get all the dogs back to Scooby. The dogs are in horrible condition. All of them are infected with mange and there are also many pregnant females. We will have a vet on full time starting tomorrow to examine each dog thoroughly.

We need your help. We cannot do this without you. You can help us by adopting one of these beautiful dogs once they are healthy enough. You can volunteer at the shelter and actually see how these dogs flourish and become healthy and alive again. And of course, you can donate to our cause. Your donations help us to buy medicine and food and provide medical care for these neglected animals.

Every donation, big or small makes a difference for these animals.
It doesn't matter how much you give. What matters, is that it's in your heart to give.

Donate via PAYPAL or make a donation directly to one of our bank accounts:

Spain: Scooby Account
Bankinter
Valladolid, Spain
Nr.: 0103853927
IBAN: ES29 0128 3467 71 0103853927
BIC: BKBKESMM

Belgium: Scooby Account
Scooby
KBC Bank, Baarle Hertog
Nr. 733-0462538-72
IBAN: BE38 7330 4625 3872
BIC: KREDBEBB

Holland: Scooby Account
Stichting Scooby
Rabobank, Oosterhout
Nr. 11.52.46.274
IBAN: NL52 RABO 0115 2462 74
BIC: RABONL2U

UK Donations:
Checks can be made payable to "Greyhound Compassion"
And mailed to:
Greyhound Compassion
PO Box 959
St. Albans
Herts
AL1 9HP

Canadian & US Donations:
Checks can be made payable to �Scooby� and mailed to:
Scooby International
460 King Edward Street
Paris, Ontario
N3L 3E3
Canada

For Canadian residents: Donations can be made at any Bank of Montreal
Scooby Account # 3061-8627-953

Thank you.
The Scooby Team

Emergency Aid Needed for Greyhounds Rescued from Guam

On November 7, 2008 the 32 year old Guam Greyhound Park, with approximately 250 greyhounds at the racetrack, abruptly closed. The closing was in response to the results of a failed initiative on the November 4 ballot which would have permitted casino style gambling on the racetrack property. John Baldwin, owner of the racetrack, who had tried to get similar initiatives passed three times in the past six years claimed the racetrack was losing $100,000 a month. On November 24,the Guam Greyhound Park started a public giveaway of 150 of the racetrack's greyhounds. Dogs were given away free to anyone who came to the track. None of the greyhounds were spayed or neutered. No record was kept of who got the greyhounds, how many each person took and no legal transfer of title was made. Obviously, no standard adoption process was in place: no home check and no information about greyhound behavior or care.

GRIN donated $600 to the Guam Greyhound rescue fund!

It has been reported that many people took the free greyhounds believing they would make good guard dogs. Some of the islands dog fighting �fans� took greyhounds to bait fighting dogs or to breed, thinking it would make the fighting dogs faster or quicker. It didn�t take long for the greyhounds to show up stray or in very bad circumstances. The following updates from Guam Animals In Need (GAIN) volunteers, Dave and Noni Davis, tells a vivid story of this immense tragedy. GAIN (the only animal rescue on the island) has now found these giveway greyhounds starved and even dead.

Around December 10, an agreement was reached with the track in which the remaining greyhounds would be adopted or relocated in accordance with GAIN policies and procedures. Exact numbers have been difficult to ascertain due to the lack of access to all of the greyhounds housed at the racetrack. It appears, however, that GAIN has received or picked up 49 greyhounds that are in their care, another 71 at the track have been sterilized are are waiting for relocation and there is an unknown number of unaltered dogs at the track who's future is dependent on decisions made by the track management. Most of these greyhounds need to come to the mainland for adoption in their �forever� homes.

So far GAIN has adopted 18 greyhounds locally and six are in foster care. As of January 19th nine greyhounds have been shipped via Continental Airlines (50% discount) to Los Angeles and are being cared for by Homestretch Greyhound Rescue and Adoption in Fillmore. Plans are in place for continuing shipments every three to five days. As dogs arrive they will be relinquished to greyhound rescue groups throughout the west coast.

The enormity of this emergency and the heroic efforts of the GAIN volunteers is clearly evident when you consider the the size of Guam. The island, U.S. territory, is about three times the size of Washington D.C. with a population of 175,000 people. Imagine a hundred greyhounds running loose. Imagine the future ecological catastrophe and public health problem when even a few surviving females come into heat.

Hundreds of Greyhounds are still facing a dire situation, but the word has spread and Greyhound rescue groups around the country are coming together in a great effort to help the most helpless, those Greyhounds stuck on an island, a U.S. Territory and nowhere to go. As of today, 1/24/09, fourteen Greyhounds have made the trip from Guam to California; 10 left Homestretch Greyhounds in Fillmore CA traveling north to various rescue groups. Donations are still needed for transport, medical, and food for those coming into groups who have added to their fosters. These dogs have not kept the groups from taking in their usual dogs, it has just increased their efforts and for that we thank them all. A special thanks to Barbara Davenport and Bob Smith of Homestretch Greyhound Rescue for helping make this rescue happen!

Help Needed Immediately! 25 Galgos in Spanish Killing Station!

This is the end of the hunting season in Spain and it is a dreadful and cruel time. Galgos are disposed of in great numbers and often in inhumane ways. GRIN received an empassioned plea from one of the rescue organizations in Spain we work with, Pro-Galgo, which is currently working to rescue 25 galgos from a "killing station". These dogs are truly on death row and desperately need YOUR help! On January 17, 2009, GRIN made a financial grant of $1000 to Pro-Galgo to help with this rescue effort, and will be shipping coats and blankets for these dogs as well. This is a particularly harsh and cold winter in Spain and help is needed to send supplies to SPain to protect these and other dogs from the harsh conditions. If you can help with a financial gift, please click the "Chip In" link to be redirected to PayPal. Help for these galgos is being provided through GRIN's "Loly's Fund" in memory of Loly, a very special little galga who was given a second chance at life. Please click "read more" to see Pro-Galgo's plea for help.

UPDATE From Mo Swatek of Pro-Galgo - January 18, 2009

Dear GRIN-BOARD-MEMBERS
We just have received the wonderful donation of 1000USD that will make possible the rescue of ALL the galgos remaining in the killing station in Jerez.
Thanks to a donation from www.baasgalgo.com we could send 30vaccinations for the dogs and pay for the most urgent expenses, thanks to Melanie www.nothing-to-fear.eu we could send 15 warm coats and 20 martingale collars to the killingstation to prepare the dogs.
Our plan is as follows:
We will rent a van and drive there tuesday night. I will go personally with a dear friend of mine to pick up the dogs. In collaboration with www.galgos112.com, the shelter in Villena and our fosterfamilies, we will fetch all of them and bring them to the different foster families. Thanks to your donation we will finance the transport and part of the castration of the male dogs as we have a very kind collaborator-vet named JOSE who operates males for 40eur each and with the other donations we will be able to pay for the tests and other vet care.
We will keep you all informed during our journey as I'm taking along with my laptop and digicam.
YOU ARE ALL WONDERFUL
Thanks so much for helping
With friendly barks from Spain
Mo Swatek
Founder
PRO-GALGO INTERNATIONAL
www.pro-galgo.com

The following galgos (Spanish greyhounds) have only a few days left before they are put down if we do not pull them out of the killing station by the end of next week. If we don't take them, either they will be killed or some others will be put to sleep to make room for the new ones to come (end of the hunting season)!!!!

PRO-GALGO is in touch with volunteers in the Jerez Gesser dogpound and we are expecting today the first information about their health state etc. but we urgently need funds to pay for the following expenses:

* 25 multiple vaccines (rabies and micro chip is financed by the local city council)
* Transport to the foster families and shelters in Spain (in Spain we have something like DHL but for dogs, that costs around 50eur per dog, countrywide
* 20 warm coats (we have the coldest winter in years in Spain and the animals in the shelters suffer terribly with temperatures down to -10� celcius in certain areas)
* Antibiotics for the dogs who already got faringitis and other problems from the cold (distemper risk is very high with low defenses after such infections)
* Leishamnia and Ehrlichia tests

An aproximate minimum expense per dog is around 80-100eur incl local transport etc. Every cent counts!!PLEASE HELP US TO HELP THEM!!!

For donations by paypal please use: pro-galgo@total-barcelona.com or contact our English PRO-GALGO team on pro-galgo@hotmail.comor telephone Elkie Lonnkvist-Hopkins on: (oo 44) (0)7931 348 498 (UK number)THANKS FOR CARING! YOUR DONATION WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!!!
Mo Swatek
Founder

A Very Special Mission to Spain

Volunteers are the backbone of the Galgo Rescue International Network, and we feel truly blessed to have so many willing, passionate individuals as part of the GRIN family. This fall, two ladies from Ohio, Debbie Grega and Chris Mosey, set off to Scooby to volunteer. They took with them over 200 pounds of medical and practical supplies which, with the help of Sandra Baas of Baas Galgo (www.baasgalgo.com), were delivered to seven Spanish shelters. They spent an intense, life-changing week at Scooby and returned to the US with 7 rescued dogs bound for loving forever homes. GRIN is grateful for their efforts, and also grateful to all our donors and supporters, without whom this special mission would not have happened. Please click "read more" to read Debbie and Chris' commentaries on their week at Scooby! The accompanying video is a photo montage created by Debbie in honor of her experiences at Scooby.

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From Debbie Grega:

To my special People,
There are so many stories that I could write about and so many things that learned in such a short period of time when I went on an adventure of a lifetime to the Scooby refuge in Spain. I promise you that I will take the time to write a journal but for now I would like to just share a couple of things with you. Scooby will always forever hold a very special place in my heart.

Besides the all of the animals especially the enormous amount of dogs (Galgos) that I had the great opportunity to meet and spend time with, was the people that I meet. I was told by someone before I left that Scooby was a little slice of heaven and by the second day there I realized that they were right. My first day was very difficult to tell you the truth, and very overwhelming, but the evening of the second day there Sandra, Chris and I sat and talked for a every long time and if Sandra knows it or not she was a god send. She put so many things into proportion for me and taught me so many things in just a short period of time. The love that the people have for the animals in Scooby I could never imagine feeling until now.

I know that there is a lot of people that feel people here should help the dogs here and have no business over there in another country, but again I learned something else. Our culture is so different than theirs. There are latterly hundred of people in the United States that stand up for and help Greyhound and every other type of animal here, but society is very different, Scooby relies on people like us to solely survive. I meet many people from different countries Holland, Mara co, Germany, and Spain that came together for one single reason. The survival and well being of animals! But out of the hundreds here there are probably only a hand full there.

I would like to thank Eva, Abby, Telma, Ahmed, Ohla, Fermin, Maria and most of all Sandra, If wasn�t for all of you this experience would not have been possible. So I THANK YOU! And Abby I know we shared so much way before I even left and the head aches and difficult time we had with the Shipping of the supplies, the dog crates and the enormous increase of the airfare. I would like to tell you it was all worth it. The supplies all got there safe and sound and was appreciated so much by the people there and all 7 dogs made it here all safe and sound to start their new lives in America. Again I have to say all 7 of these dogs will always hold a very special place in my heart.

THANK YOU
Debbie

From Chris Mosey:

Before I tell you about my trip to Spain I�d like to thank everyone who supported me in this effort. Debbie and I were able to present several shelters with much needed medical supplies, collars, leashes, coats, and blankets. Monetary donations to Scooby were greatly appreciated as well. Please check out these websites:

www.scoobymedina.com It is the website of Scooby Rescue, the facility where we volunteered to work for a week.

www.galgorescue.org This is the website for Galgo Rescue International Network (GRIN). They coordinated our trip and helped make this all possible. Because of them we were able to bring 7 dogs back to the states with us. All of them have homes.

At first sight, Scooby can be almost overwhelming. Hundreds of dogs reside here, as well as many, many cats, donkeys, sheep, pigs, horses, ducks, geese�.you get the idea. Most of the dogs are Galgos, Spanish greyhounds, which are used for hunting, and, unfortunately, for some owners it's easier to kill the dogs after the season is over than to feed them all year long. That's where Scooby comes in. Fermin Perez began his rescue effort 20 years ago and Scooby was born. After spending time with Senor Perez and watching him in action, I wonder when he sleeps! He is truly devoted to his cause and honestly cares deeply for the animals.

The dogs are kept in paddocks, sometimes 10-15 together, and, although we were �covered in dogs� upon entering, not one dog showed us any aggression. They were friendly and well-adjusted for the most part, but it didn�t take long for us to see the day-to-day dynamics of canine social hierarchy. In every paddock it was obvious who was at the top of the pecking order. These dogs were generally fatter, pushier, more rambunctious and happy, happy, happy! I went over to volunteer with no intention of falling in love, but I came home with a 4 year old Galgo boy who, quite obviously, was not high in the hierarchy and I watched as the others would not let him eat. It was impossible to move him elsewhere because he would then be the new dog and the pack would begin, again, to determine the order of things. Where is Cesar Milan when you need him!?

Debbie and I spent a week shoveling, raking, hosing, hauling poop, and 'squeegeeing� the dog areas �and it was glorious! We even went in on our designated day off! The staff at Scooby was wonderful. They, too, put in long, hard days. Even with so many animals to care for it seemed that they knew all of them by name. While we were there a team of veterinarians from Holland came for a week to do nothing but spaying and neutering. It was a wonderful experience for me. I have a background in veterinary technology, animal control, shelter management, and rescue, but I�d not experienced an operation of this size with so much going on. Scooby Rescue certainly does a great job with the resources they have. Language differences are no barrier when your goal is the same. My Scooby experience was very positive, but I�m sure it's not for everyone. Some may find it difficult to process the concept of hundreds of dogs living together, most of whom will live out their lives at Scooby. Adoptions are few compared to our shelter standards but many, many go on to new homes and the photos of them with their new families are posted all over the walls at Scooby!

Please check out the websites and help if you can; some lives depend on it! THANK YOU!

Chris Mosey

Second Annual Fiesta De Los Galgos in Malaga, Espana

The idea first came about as Charlotte del Rio was thinking about how to publicize the fact that galgos make great pets to the Spanish population. In conversations with Telma of GRIN, the suggestion of a Galgo Walking Club caught her imagination. She then contacted her galgo friends in Spain to plan a walk somewhere and the first Fiesta de los Galgos was born. Ivan of El Refugio del Burrito, a sanctuary for abused burros, stepped in and offered his ranch for the days festivities. The turnout was great last year and even the press came to write a story.

This year the hope is for a T.V. station to come and cover the event. The publicity would be great! The days events will include socializing with friends and family, an opportunity to walk the dogs on the ranch and learn about the burros and the labor at the sanctuary. Lunch will follow as the group will walk a few short miles into town for a lunch in an outdoor caf�. Last year even the burros walked to town with the group! After lunch, back to the barn and the fun of an agility course for dogs large and small will take place. There will also be games for the galgos and a raffle to help raise funds for the galgos. A wonderful day is expected with many of the extraordinary people of Spain who rescue those dogs most in need, the galgos and other hunting dogs of Spain. If you are in Spain and love the galgos, join Ivan and friends at El Refugio del Burrito for a fun filled day.

Address: Apartado 25, Fuente De Piedra, Malaga
Tel (0034) 952 735 077 www.elrefugiodelburrito.com

A Letter Every Galgo Lover Must Read

Being able to provide the galgos of Spain with the medications and supplies they so desperately need is an immensely rewarding part of being a member of the Galgo Rescue International Network. We develop friendships with many of the people in Spain who have dedicated their lives to the welfare of the Spanish galgo, and these friendships have thrived despite the borders of nations and the barriers of language because we are all bound by one thing � our love for the galgos. Our friends in the US are just as dear to us and share the same bond. We received a very moving letter of thanks from Mada Sanguino of Recal Extremadura after she received the shipment of medications and supplies GRIN sent to her during our Fall 2008 Shelter Aid Mission. We feel compelled to share this letter with all of you � we think you will be moved by the love, sincerity, and thanks Mada's letter reveals. Most of all, we want you to know that your help does make a difference, your donations do get to Spain, and without you none of this would be possible.

From Mada Sanguino of Recal Extremadura:

Hello Again Telma,
You do not imagine how it was when I opened the package. It has been incredible. So many things they are all so useful for us. You have thought of everything that I asked, Alopurinol for leishmania, antibiotics, eye care and artificial tears, there are things that I did not even know existed like the little towels of alcohol to be used once for wounds. Also incredible to receive the IVERMECTICINA, you do not imagine the good that it is for us to treat babesia, filarial and erlichia. Also many of the medicines are exclusive for dogs, they come in a attractive format for them, chewable, that they will eat willingly, that way we will not have to pinch them with what hurts, above all else IVERMECTICINA, that hurts so much and we suffer with them.

Everything, all is so appreciated, the sutures, the bandages, the iodine, the deparisitic pills, the collars everything..

Incredible Telma!! I got very emotional taking all the things out of the box.

You cannot believe the amount of money that we will save in medications. Now that the cold and winter begins and the dogs get sicker we have supplies which will help us confront .

I will not get tired thanking you because it has reached my soul.
Please forward my gratitude to all your co workers.
Receive a very very strong hug.

Mada
RECAL EXTREMADURA

The picture gallery below features Mada and some of the animals Recal helps.

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Massive Delivery of Supplies to Seven Spanish Shelters

On October 8, 2008, the Galgo Rescue International Network sent a shipment of nearly 200 pounds of medical and practical supplies to seven galgo welfare organizations in Spain. The shipment included antibiotics and other medications, suture, syringes, wound care supplies, bandage supplies, leashes, collars, ophthalmic and otic medications, anti-inflammatory medications, and literally hundreds and hundreds of doses of flea/tick/heartworm preventative medications. The supplies were transported by volunteers Debbie Grega and Chris Mosey of Ohio. The seven recipient shelters were: Scooby, Arca Sevilla, Refuge San Anton, Recal Extremadura, Pro-Galgo, PAWS/PATAS, and Sofia El Refugio Escuela. Please click the "read more" link to read how all of this happened! We owe this success to our donors and supporters, without whom none of this would have been possible!

One of the Galgo Rescue International Network's primary missions is to provide veterinary and practical supplies to the Spanish shelters and organizations working to save the galgos of Spain. Doing so is no small feat, and it all begins with our donors and supporters. It is a very time-consuming and expensive undertaking, one that GRIN does with love. We have established relationships with over a dozen of the rescue organizations in Spain, and one of the early steps in planning such a mission is to find out what the shelters have the greatest need for.

A continuous piece of the entire puzzle is collecting and sorting the supplies donated by individuals, rescue groups, and veterinarians here in the US. We occasionally purchase medical supplies at cost through our veterinary contacts as well. Once we have the "bee in our bonnet", so to speak, to send a load of supplies to Spain, we have to find willing volunteers to get it there. Because of the ridiculously high cost of shipping, the customs issues, and the likelihood that the supplies would never reach their destination, we send our shipments via excess baggage with volunteers rather than shipping them overseas. We were amazingly fortunate to have two volunteers from Ohio, Debbie Grega and Chris Mosey, agree to take our 2008 fall shipment with them when they went to Spain to volunteer at Scooby.

We work very hard to "share the wealth" with all of the Spanish groups we work with, but unfortunately we cannot help all of them each time we send supplies over. Therefore, the GRIN Board of Directors selects a number of organizations to help and begins to prepare the shipment.

We sort the donated supplies using the lists of requested supplies we receive from the shelters. The images in this story's gallery show the sorting process in action! After the supplies have been sorted we need to get them to the volunteers. Often the volunteers are from Colorado (our home base), but this time we had to get them to Ohio. On October 2, 2008, GRIN sent nearly 200 pounds of supplies via freight on a pallet to Debbie Grega.

On October 8, 2008, Debbie and Chris embarked upon their mission, laden with the huge bags of supplies and six large Vari-Kennel dog crates (to return to the US with 7 lucky new canine immigrants!). Upon arriving in Madrid they were met by a Scooby volunteer who drove them to meet Sandra Baas of Baas Galgo (www.baasgalgo.com). Sandra is an amazing artist who creates jewelry with a galgo theme and donates much of the proceeds of their sales to galgo welfare. Sandra took the supplies bound for the shelters and mailed them from within Spain to six of the seven shelters. The supplies bound for Scooby were delivered by hand to Fermin Perez by Debbie and Chris.

The entire process is time-consuming and exhausting, but it also is an amazing experience to be a part of! Because of the donations from all of our donors and supporters, we were able to provide medications and supplies that will help literally hundreds of animals that may have otherwise gone without such care. There is no way to adequately express the gratitude we feel for the generosity shown to the galgos by the kind friends of GRIN here in the US.

A very special thank you to some very special donors and supporters whose generosity seems to know no bounds or borders: Mike Herman, DVM; Donald and Elaine Irving; Louise Coleman and Greyhound Friends; Debbie Grega and Chris Mosey.

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21st September - Madrid - Join the Protest!

Our Spanish friends are angry! They have organised a huge protest in Madrid on 21st September. They want a national law to protect animals in Spain.

They want severe penalties for people found guilty of maltreating animals. They want a ban on financial aid from the State for spectacles and events involving the maltreatment of animals, such as bull fights and greyhound racing.

21st September
12 midday
Palacia de La Moncloa

BE THERE if you can!

http://concentracionmadrid.es.tl

Urgent Plea from San Anton - Save Our Galgos Before They Are Stolen!

This is a report from Saskia Rinia van Nauta of the San Anton Refuge. Galgos are being stolen. Three in the Cadiz area, one in Cordoba. And this is just the beginning. The first burglary has materialised: the galgos Chupeta, Fantastica and Fence have been stolen in the heat of the night. With enormous violence doors have been broken, and thieves have entered into the shelter. The hunters themselves also suffer under the theft of their dogs.

Prevention of theft seems to be impossible. The totally ruthless perpetrators act by incredible force, this is a most dangerous situation. We keep our fingers crossed for the fate of our galgos Azafran, Capea, Duardo, Esprit, Frenazo, Gofa, Juanjo, Letitia, Limoneta, Loli, Malva, Medusa, Patito and Ruffian. They all have an adoptive family who is eagerly waiting for them, but ways of their transportation have still to be realised.
The installation of a camera circuit might be the only precautionary measure possible. Installation by local technicians is preferred: installation, maintenance and repairs all done by one local business. Internet shows us that the guarding of the dogs in this way may well cost us Euro 2.000! Who can come up with an original idea to collect this amount of money, f.i. in a special event.

This matter is MOST URGENT as September is a month in which lots and lots of dogs are stolen, consequently the dogs in San Anton have to fear for their lives. In 2007 the hunters started to discard the Spanish greyhounds / galgos in November. We had a waiting list of people interested in adopting a galgo.

Now a precarious situation has arisen as we welcomed nine galgos, most of them 8 or more years old in the past few weeks. We'll soon present them to you on the internet. For these older dogs it is an effort to bear the ever changing temperatures of this climate combined with the high humidity in the shelter. It causes the infamous San Anton cough. A solution for this problem has yet to be found. Detlef is concentrating on this, but maybe someone else can also come up with an idea.

During the working visit of Detlef and Roswhita in September all dog beds will be given a foam covering. Highest priority is to create and/or improve living quarters so that they are beneficial for the dogs - they should live in a healthy environment.

A matter of great concern for San Anton is the fact that ProAnimale had to close down its shelter for foreign dogs in the Schwarzwald region (Southern Germany) under a judicial order. The same fate may await Tierherberge Donzdorf and as a precautionary measure they have canceled their transport of last July. It isn't hard to guess what this means for the dogs concerned. Their future is most uncertain.

Consequently the Foundation San Anton is faced with a considerable rise in costs - whereas fundraising is difficult due to the economical recession. From the Villamartin Town Hall no help or empathy can be expected for the dogs.

Since the establishment of the Foundation San Anton within the pereira Recogida de Animales Vagabundos in Villamartin a big change in favour of the dogs' welfare has been realised thanks to your support.

A change in their attitude towards dogs of the Spanish people is materializing only very slowly. To maintain the accomplishments in San Anton and to further develop these we are totally dependent on your support in every way. Without your support San Anton and its inhabitants face an uncertain future.

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