Galgos – the Greyhound’s Spanish Sibling – and their Devastating Plight

Hello, everyone! I thought that today I would use this platform to bring awareness to the very special dog breed, the Galgo – the Spanish greyhound and gorgeous member of the sighthound family.

(Disclaimer: some may find this post more hard-hitting than usual, but I believe that shedding light on this breed and their suffering is important and arguably not done enough in the mainstream media.)

Often unheard of by many British dog owners, galgos are known to be very similar in nature to greyhounds: calm, gentle and sweet-natured. In appearance, they are very similar also, with greyhound-like pointy noses and a slender build. Alike to greyhounds, galgos have been used over the centuries for their speed, largely for hunting purposes in Spain; however, today, they are considered to be one of the most exploited and mistreated breeds on Earth…

In Spain today, they are used by galgueros (hunters), who use them for coursing between September to February, with the most prestigious of these events even being sponsored by the King of Spain. During these hunting seasons, these galgos are often treated disgracefully – kept in terrible conditions, chained up, fed pitiful amounts that barely keep them alive and trained in the most horrific ways, such as tied to the back of vehicles to make them run as fast as possible.

Once the hunting season has ended, any galgos who no longer meet their galguero’s expectations are disposed of in the most brutal ways. Killing these galgos through nightmarish methods, including burning, use of acid, starving, thrown into wells or even abandoned in forests with purposely broken legs, are all frequent occurrences in Spain. The dogs are also hanged from trees if they are no longer considered worthy of competing, being hanged lower to the ground for a slower death if the galguero deems the dog to have brought dishonour. Reports from various charities estimate that anywhere between 50,000 – 100,000 galgos each year are abandoned or killed in these disgusting ways, with no current EU laws or Spanish welfare laws preventing these horrendous acts from happening.

Today, I have brought awareness to this issue, not to cause alarm or to make anyone feel uneasy, but to highlight the reality of a heinous act that is happening in the world right now. An act that many dog owners, even greyhound owners, and animal lovers are unaware of. Currently in Spain, many fantastic organisations are campaigning tirelessly for changes in the law to prevent this horrific treatment of the greyhound’s Spanish sibling and are rescuing galgos daily from these haunting conditions, including Galgos Del Sol and Project Galgo.

If you have been touched by what you have learnt today, I encourage you to research the above organisations. You can help the galgos of Spain in so many ways: adopting, fostering, fundraising, donating, volunteering or even just spreading the word! These beautiful, gentle creatures deserve better from humanity, especially in 2025, and the more people who speak of their plight will hopefully bring about much needed change.

Until next time…

Love and snoot kisses,

Berry x