More than 50,000 hunting dogs are sorted out, abandoned, killed every year in Spain.

50,000 - every year! Discarded because they are injured, too weak, too old, too slow, too clever, too experienced, have too little bite. Because they have visual defects, the wrong colour or ear position, because their canines stick out too far. They are disposed of like rubbish. There are plenty of replacements. That is the fate of Galgos. Galgo Español means Spanish sighthound. It has been used for hunting for over 2000 years. Hunting instinct, speed and agility are firmly rooted in its DNA. And this has become the breed's undoing.

Spain is the only EU country where hunting with dogs is still allowed. Here, Galgos are mainly used for hunting hares. As a leisure activity for the galgueros, for entertainment, for fame and honour and for betting winnings. In any case, the dogs are the ones who suffer.

The hunting season begins in October and ends on 1 February. A few years ago, Spanish animal protection organisations proclaimed this day Día del Galgo, World Galgo Day, to draw attention to the fate of hunting dogs. Because every year the mass culling begins anew. The dogs are abandoned, left in open fields with fractures, beaten to death, thrown into riverbeds in rubbish bags, thrown into wells or ravines, hanged from trees, doused with acid, run over, dragged to death behind cars or quads during training... or at least handed over to state killing centres or private animal shelters.

The owners of the dogs are called galgueros, the "hunters". The figure of 50,000 abandoned dogs has been circulating in the animal protection scene for years. It is based on a voluntary survey of participating Spanish animal shelters. However, local animal welfare activists now speak of up to 200,000 hunting dogs, 80% of them Galgos, who suffer this fate every year.

The proportion of hunters in the Spanish population seems vanishingly small at 1.6%. But on the one hand, this is only the number of registered hunting permits and on the other hand, it is not uncommon for one galguero to have 30-40 or even far more dogs. And about 85% of the land is privately owned. Hunters have 31,002 hunting grounds at their disposal, of which just 4,000 are public and can be managed by hunting societies or associations.* The galgueros thus have huge areas at their disposal, which are hardly controllable. Moreover, the hunting lobby is powerful and influential.

*Source: https://www.moonleaks.org/eurogroup-for-animals/

But why are so many dogs disposed of every year?

Hunting is a lucrative business, for the galgueros it is about honour, fame and profits. They breed the dogs in large numbers to produce the champion. Dogs that prove unfit in preparation or during the hunting season are discarded. Galgos that have reached the age of three are already considered too old for hunting and are sorted out. Experienced dogs that have learned to hunt efficiently are eliminated. Injured dogs are eliminated. Dogs with visual defects are eliminated. Aged breeding dogs are weeded out. There are enough and feeding useless dogs after the hunting season is something no galguero wants to do.

Hunting dogs are farm animals in Spain, excluded from the new animal welfare law.

The galgueros can breed and sort out the dogs undisturbed, year after year. They do not have to fear penalties or sanctions. And animal welfare has hardly any means to report bad keeping, neglect or mistreatment of dogs.

This is the situation of hunting dogs in Spain. Large parts of the Spanish population know nothing about the fate of the dogs.

It is difficult to get the word out from the remote rural areas to the large urban areas. Animal welfare organisations work tirelessly to raise awareness and educate the public about the dogs' suffering. And slowly, awareness is growing among the Spanish population. But it is a very long way.

Why are we demonstrating in Germany?

Spanish animal welfare organisations work around the clock to rescue dogs, take them into shelters, treat injuries, cure diseases, and then place the dogs together with partner associations at home and abroad. It is like a Sisyphean task, because the flood of dogs never stops. A large number of rescued Spanish hunting dogs find a home in Germany. Many associations for the protection of animals abroad work here and there are many volunteers who travel to Spain year after year to help out in the animal shelters during their holidays. With the Galgomarsch, we want to draw attention to the fate of Spanish hunting dogs, raise awareness for the issue and support animal protection on site.