The Photographs on this page are by courtesy of John Mottern in association with the American organisation Greyhound Friends, who visited Barcelona to see the situation for themselves.

4^th April 1999 - Mallorca Update

I was telephoned by Tomeo 2 days ago to say that by the end of this week, about 90 more greyhounds will be unwanted in Mallorca. The gypsies are at last releasing them. We are waiting a little longer to see precisely how many need help. 40 older dogs have already been released.

4^th April 1999 - Medina del Campo Update

Fermín has collected nearly 300 galgos to date since January this year. Visiting vets are neutering as many as possible in readiness for homes abroad in the future. All have been fully vaccinated and wormed and blood tested for tick and other parasitic diseases. They are not tattoed so they will be microchipped soon.

On Wednesday 6^th April, Dai Lawrence will leave Plymouth for Medina, loaded with a second-hand operating table, an anaesthetic gas machine, an autoclave and many other veterinary instruments and equipment. Also on board will be a washing machine! All these goods have been donated or bought second hand.

4th April 1999 - Barcelona Update

112 Irish bitches remain in Vic. Some may go to USA. 'Greyhound Friends' of USA and the ISPCA of Ireland are anxiously trying to solve the problem of their future and their security.

Anybody volunteering work with those dogs would be much appreciated meanwhile. Please contact us on 01784-436845, or Marion Fitzgibbon of the ISPCA.

May we in Greyhounds in Need wish you a Happy and Blessed Easter Day. 'He is risen indeed. Alleluya!'

21st March 1999

Dear friends of Greyhounds in Need

Stop-press; Further update on situation with 250 greyhounds in Barcelona

Inspite of some uncertainty now about the funding from the Irish, British and Spanish Greyhound Boards we are going this week to Barcelona to collect twenty dogs for quarantine in England at an overall cost of about £10,000.

This will reduce the pressure slightly on Beatriu Cayuela who has generously accepted the 250 into her refuge near Vic. They are ‘in extremis’. The dogs are 4 to 5 to a cage, outside on concrete without bedding. The temperature drops to freezing at night. The situation is dire. The rent of the premises and the food bill will soon become impossible. Two people adopted dogs in the presence of American visitors from ‘Greyhound Friends’ who would not themselves have felt happy about those particular adopters.

The Spanish animal welfare workers, Town Hall and public of Barcelona, are very concerned about this whole situation and the welfare of these dogs.

Anne Finch

17th March 1999

Dear Friends of Greyhounds in Need,

Update RE 250 Unwanted Greyhounds in Barcelona due to Closure of Dog Track

We have good news! These dogs have been saved from the needle at the last minute! This was due to the combined efforts of the following:

• Greyhounds in Need who visited Barcelona last week.
• The Deputy Mayor and members of the Municipal Council for the Protection of Animals,
• Members of ACVAC (the Catalan veterinary association),
• The Generalist (the Autonomous Government of Catalunya),
• Scooby Association of Medina del Campo who pioneered the work for greyhounds in Spain,
• The media - TV3 and Diari Avui,
• 'Greyhound Friends' of Hopkinton USA, who will visit this week,
• Señor Rafael Conde of the Spanish Embassy, Washington DC, USA,
• Beatriu Cayuela has kindly agreed to accept the dogs in her refuge in Gurb, a town north of Barcelona,
• Geoffrey Thomas, President of the World Greyhound Racing Federation, has agreed to find the finance from the Irish, British and Spanish racing boards to bring 40 of the dogs (mainly bitches) into quarantine in England.

Adopting a greyhound as a pet in Spain is still in its infancy. Work is being done at this moment to promote the idea of the greyhound as a companion animal, which of course is currently very popular in Britain and the USA. We will of course furnish helpers in Spain with the benefit of our experience in this field.

Anne Finch

7^th March 1999

Dear Friends of Greyhounds in Need,

An urgent situation has arisen in Barcelona, Spain. I have been approached by the President of the World Greyhound Racing Federation.

One dog-track has just closed there and 250 greyhounds, mostly Irish bitches, are unwanted.

We have just cleared Mallorca of 240 greyhounds due to the closure of the track there. Dai Lawrence, an ex-miner and I , have transported them to homes in northern Europe and thirty have come into quarantine in England. This has drained my resources and saturated and over-stretched the home-finding facilities in Europe. Over the last twelve months we have relocated also 150 greyhounds from Scooby Organisation, (President, Fermín Peréz) Medina del Campo, Spain, to homes in Europe. They have currently 220 more greyhounds for homing, which they have collected in the last six weeks. These operations have put me thousands of pounds sterling into personal debt.

The following points should be considered;

Setting up an adoption programme of greyhounds as pets in Spain at the moment has to be carefully considered, for the following reasons.

• The view of greyhounds in Spain as companion animals is a long way from reality at the present time. They are commonly viewed only as hunting, working animals. They are not fashionable as pets. Most people in Barcelona live in apartments, and do not adopt large dogs.
• Big dogs are under suspicion currently in Spain because of the recent scandal of the death of a child in Mallorca by a dogo argentino. There is strong anti-dog feeling throughout Spain at the moment. It is not only in Spain that the misconception exists that greyhounds are aggressive animals.
• Dog-fighting using pit-bulls is a current problem in Spain. It is a pastime of the gipsies who constitute a large minority of the population. Greyhounds are used in dog-fighting to teach the pit-bulls agility, and they are frequently stolen by gipsies from refuges and breeders for the purposes of illegal hunting or maybe to be the victims of pit-bulls. Half of the population of Barcelona is from Andalusia. The hanging, burning and impalement of greyhounds in the countryside of Spain has been well documented. Draw your own conclusions about the safety of an unwanted greyhound in Spain.
• It would cost over £120,000 to pay for the quarantine of 250 greyhounds in England at discount price, assuming there is space, and a further £15,000 to fulfil their export veterinary requirements and transport them. These figures could be greatly exceeded in reality.

What shall I do? Has anyone any ideas?

Is the answer humane euthanasia with intravenous barbiturate performed by a vet? The racing industry would have to pay for that.

If that seems to be the only solution, then I would like to be present myself with the vet and would like Fermín Peréz of Scooby Organisation to help us too. We would give each dog a tasty little meal first, caresses, and the dog would die in our arms, and not have to witness the death of her kennel mates. I would be pleased for greyhound lovers to give me their considered opinions. This is a lot for one person to bear.

Ann Finch

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