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A Succinct Insight Into Greyhounds In Spain
The Spanish people use greyhounds to a large extent in the hunting season in their country. They call the dogs Galgos in their language and the dogs possess a great hunting skill and the instinct to work as hunting dogs. Nevertheless, there is another issue regarding the use of greyhounds in the country that has gotten the interest of animal rights groups and other international organizations.
This issue is the slaughtering of the greyhounds that occurs by the end of the hunting season in January. Hunters have practiced this for a long time because most of them do not have the will to keep their dogs as pets till the next hunting season. They therefore kill their dogs and you will find the carcasses of greyhounds in many parts of Spain's countryside when the hunting season ends.
The origins of this practice are not known. It is known that nobles from the past would display tortured and hanged greyhounds to the public in order to deter the peasants that might be thinking of revolting. Several of these dogs are really tortured instead of hanged to die instantly.
The hunters deliberately tie the noose in such a manner that the dogs can hold themselves up on their hind legs for two days. Once they begin to weaken from hunger and thirst they lose the power to hold themselves up and fall into the noose thereby suffocating to death.
Although the practice of killing greyhounds has gone on for many centuries, it has gotten the attention of the public only a short while ago. The people of Spain are infamous for their cruel handling of bulls in their traditional bullfighting sport but this barbaric tradition of slaughtering greyhounds looks to be a rival or something that exceeds the very unpleasant tradition in cruelty too.
For some people the fact that the greyhounds are used then later put to death is a very inhumane act. For other people however it is the manner in which they are put to death which is a great cause of concern. It is estimated that more than 10,000 greyhounds are hanged in this manner on an annual basis.
Hanging is not the only way in which greyhounds are killed in Spain. Some are thrown down abandoned wells or left to wander in the woods to die of starvation. In some instances burnt carcasses of greyhounds have also been seen in the countryside.
There are more than 30 million people in Spain that engage in agricultural activities and hunting is a primary mode of acquiring food sources for them. The majority of them use greyhounds in the hunting season.
The argument made by these farmers is that they lack the necessary facilities which will enable them to give the greyhounds adequate food and housing for the entire year and they therefore resolve to kill the greyhounds at the end of the hunting season. The primary concern is therefore the way they kill the dogs and not the reason why they kill them.
This issue is the slaughtering of the greyhounds that occurs by the end of the hunting season in January. Hunters have practiced this for a long time because most of them do not have the will to keep their dogs as pets till the next hunting season. They therefore kill their dogs and you will find the carcasses of greyhounds in many parts of Spain's countryside when the hunting season ends.
The origins of this practice are not known. It is known that nobles from the past would display tortured and hanged greyhounds to the public in order to deter the peasants that might be thinking of revolting. Several of these dogs are really tortured instead of hanged to die instantly.
The hunters deliberately tie the noose in such a manner that the dogs can hold themselves up on their hind legs for two days. Once they begin to weaken from hunger and thirst they lose the power to hold themselves up and fall into the noose thereby suffocating to death.
Although the practice of killing greyhounds has gone on for many centuries, it has gotten the attention of the public only a short while ago. The people of Spain are infamous for their cruel handling of bulls in their traditional bullfighting sport but this barbaric tradition of slaughtering greyhounds looks to be a rival or something that exceeds the very unpleasant tradition in cruelty too.
For some people the fact that the greyhounds are used then later put to death is a very inhumane act. For other people however it is the manner in which they are put to death which is a great cause of concern. It is estimated that more than 10,000 greyhounds are hanged in this manner on an annual basis.
Hanging is not the only way in which greyhounds are killed in Spain. Some are thrown down abandoned wells or left to wander in the woods to die of starvation. In some instances burnt carcasses of greyhounds have also been seen in the countryside.
There are more than 30 million people in Spain that engage in agricultural activities and hunting is a primary mode of acquiring food sources for them. The majority of them use greyhounds in the hunting season.
The argument made by these farmers is that they lack the necessary facilities which will enable them to give the greyhounds adequate food and housing for the entire year and they therefore resolve to kill the greyhounds at the end of the hunting season. The primary concern is therefore the way they kill the dogs and not the reason why they kill them.
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There are quite a few species of rare Spanish animals. To learn where you can spot them see our guide to National parks in Spain.