Podencos, galgos, greyhounds: all dogs bound by a sad fate. Exploited by humans, they are condemned to a gruesome death when they “are no longer of use”.
I first came across the sad story of podencos and galgos years ago, when my sister-in-law – who lives in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic – adopted a delightful little dog from Spain. She sent me photos of the arrival at the airport: it was a young galgo, thin, with the sweetest eyes, disoriented and trembling after the long journey. Gabriella then flooded me with addresses of websites and voluntary organisations that worked with these dogs, used seasonally for hunting and then destined for segregation and, finally, a horrible death.
By chance, right in the middle of lockdown, my friend Gianluca Comazzi, president of Fiba (Federazione italiana benessere animale) and city councillor in Milan, began talking about podencos and galgos again on Facebook, putting me in touch with an organisation that handles their adoption. And now, here we are. Let us turn to the story of the very sad plight of these magnificent dogs, exploited by humans in the most horrible way imaginable. A truly dark chapter as far as animal rights are concerned.
Warning: the following content may be distressing to sensitive readers
Podencos belong to the spitz and primitive dog group and are thought to have arrived in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the north-western coast of Africa, around 1000 BC, brought by the Phoenicians through their trading activity. This people most likely imported what were considered the sacred dogs of the pharaohs from Egypt. In Egyptian tombs one can admire engravings and images of these animals dating back to 3,400 BC.
The Egyptian people called them "Tesem" and it is believed this was the breed that inspired the depictions of the god Anubis, the lord of the dead, in mythology. The origin of the name podenco is thought to derive from the Greek "podokès", meaning "swift". And indeed, this medium-sized dog, which closely resembles a greyhound, specialises in hunting fast prey such as hares and rabbits, an activity that continues to this day thanks to its exceptionally keen nose, excellent hearing and outstanding eyesight.
It is on account of these characteristics that the podenco spread from the Balearic Islands to Spain and as far as southern France, dividing into a series of sub-breeds and crossbreeds depending on the area of origin (there is the Canarian podenco, the Ibizan, the Spanish galgo, and so on). This is an extremely gentle dog, whose main characteristics are docility and unconditional love for the family that takes it in. And it is perhaps precisely its gentleness that makes it man's predestined victim. These elegant animals are used for rabbit hunting – an activity that lasts around two months – and are then killed or starved in what can only be described as squalid hovels.
And in this, sadly, they share the fate of their cousins, the Spanish galgos, dogs very similar in appearance and disposition which – as Gianluca Comazzi notes in a recent statement – are the victims of a veritable genocide (approximately 50,000 animals are killed every year, counting galgos, podencos and greyhound-type dogs) at the hands of the galgueros, the rabbit hunters who see in these dogs nothing more than objects useful for hunting, to be disposed of once their usefulness has been exhausted, in what has become an entrenched practice. At the end of the hunting season, podencos are indeed abandoned to fend for themselves, poor strays with no food or shelter, or, in the worst cases, shot in the head and thrown into rural wells like waste to be disposed of.
The same fate also awaits greyhounds bred for racing, among them the greyhound proper, which, once it reaches a certain age (around three years old), is abandoned or killed. These dogs are often hanged, condemned to a slow and painful death, or left far from home with broken legs so that they cannot find their way back to their owners. It is a crime against animals for which the involvement of international authorities has long been called for, in order to finally regulate the lives – and deaths – of these magnificent companions to humans.
The animal welfare world is taking action on the issue, working to promote the adoption of these dogs and their rescue, albeit amid countless difficulties and misunderstandings. Fulvia Gardi, president of the association Podenco's angels rescue, which has been working on the breed's situation for years, explained to me that the perreras hold hundreds of podencos at the end of every hunting season.
Their affectionate temperament, their extreme devotion to humans, their craving for cuddles and attention make them excellent companion animals that could bring great happiness to many families, including those with young children. But unfortunately the sad story of podencos and galgos is not widely known and, all too often, better-known and less adaptable breeds are preferred. If you search online, however, you can find a wide selection of useful contacts, intervention groups, animal welfare advocates and volunteers working in the world of greyhounds and Spanish perreras.
I found it difficult to write this editorial because every time I am reminded of how the world of our four-legged friends mirrors, sadly, that of the humans who share their lives. On one side there are those who are born lucky and can count on love, devotion and care; on the other, there are those who have nothing and are destined to hardship, deprivation, pain and torture. Let us remember the podencos, then, and their brothers in misfortune. And perhaps something will change for the better for them too.