Dogs at the center of controversy: protect hunting or animals

Lindor

is a light brown Andalusian hound, almost like a Christmas bonbon, and it is from those sweets that he takes his name.

He has very pointed ears and a penetrating look with which he tries to hide his shyness.

He walks slowly and fearfully, unable to put one foot down on him.

His owner used to go hunting with him until the dog suffered a fracture.

The hunter made him a homemade bandage that did not work, so he left him tied to an olive tree in Lucena (Córdoba) to starve and thirst.

A private individual found him days later skeletal, lame and abandoned.

He called the Civil Guard and the Seprona agents seized the dog and denounced his owner - he had a chip.

"I found him, I put a microchip on him and I was taking care of him," the defendant claimed to defend himself.

Lindor

has undergone surgery and is recovering at the shelter of the Galgos del Sur association, which each year collects some 400 greyhounds and hounds abandoned exclusively by hunters, with broken legs, blows, malnutrition and even shots, which rise to 21,800 if they are count the hunting dogs sheltered in all the shelters in Spain, according to the Affinity Foundation.

This figure, from 2021, represents 13% of all dogs that are abandoned (about 168,000), whether pets or hunting.

They are a minority but they are at the center of the controversy: they would be more helpless if they finally stay out of the animal protection law, which is now in full parliamentary processing.

The mistreatment of all animals (except wild ones) is already punishable by article 337 of the Penal Code, but in those that are used for economic activities (such as hunting or production) these crimes are very difficult to prosecute.

Javier Luna and Patricia Almansa, members of Galgos del Sur, caress 'Lindor', a recovered hound at their facilities.

PACO BRIDGES

The legislation seeks, among other things, to toughen the penalties for animal abuse —with a reform of the Penal Code—, to protect all vertebrates (also wild ones,

except when they are legally hunted) and put an end to the abandonment of pets (in 2021, the end of the hunting season was the second reason for abandonment in Spain after unwanted litters, according to the Afinitty Foundation).

The norm has enervated the rural world.

"Hunting is a defining factor [in these areas], it involves a lot of money and work that helps establish population in emptied Spain," says Luis Muñoz, a veterinarian and owner of a clinic in La Carolina, in Jaén, where he treats a 40% of

rehala dogs (groups of hunting dogs).

There is a lot of hunting in Andalusia: of the 678,483 licenses issued in Spain in 2020 (latest data available, according to Ecological Transition), 217,779 were issued in this community, almost triple that of Castilla-La Mancha (82,165).

Of the 337,000 federated hunters, more than 88,000 are south of Despeñaperros.

One of those places is the town of Jaén, which, being next to Sierra Morena, is a traditional hunting area.

“The PSOE governs here, and also in nearby Vilches and Santa Elena, all towns with many hunters.

But if the animal protection law is approved, that vote could change”, predicts Muñoz.

That vote is one of the keys to this week's confrontation between United We Can and the PSOE.

The former have developed a standard that aims to increase the protection of all animals;

the latter support it, but want to leave hunting dogs out —for which they propose a specific regulation—, after the protests of hunters, who demonstrated against the law by thousands in March in Madrid.

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The plenary session in which the rights of LGTBI people, animal welfare and the voluntary interruption of pregnancy were discussed, on October 6. Photo: Europa Press |

Video: Europa Press

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The promoter of the animal welfare law: "The norm will come out with all dogs included, also hunting ones"

In La Carolina, about a hundred kilometers from the shelter where

is located, there is the other side of the treatment and care given by hunters to dogs.

There, the veterinarian Luis Muñoz, who is also a hunter, proudly shows his rehala, a group of dogs that hunt big game and that Andalusia considers to be of cultural interest.

"A rehala is a minimum of 35 or 40 dogs, because if you go hunting one day you take 25 dogs and leave 15 to be cooler the second day," explains Muñoz as he walks through the kennels with his 75 dogs.

“We have chosen a crossbreed dog that we call urraco, a mixture of a mastiff with a podenco.

It has been our line for many years, we do not buy or sell, we breed them ”, he continues.

The veterinarian Luis Muñoz Lorite proudly shows his pack of 75 hunting dogs, in La Carolina (Jaén).PACO PUENTES

Miguel Ángel Fernández walks among the dogs in the rehala he cares for in La Carolina.

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The rehalf of dogs 'El Viti' in La Carolina (Jaén).PACO PUENTES

The ship is spotless, with light, sawdust on the floor and a pleasant temperature.

There is heating with solar panels and, in summer, ventilation with fresh water dispersion.

Outside, 15 acres for the dogs to run.

Miguel Ángel Fernández is the caretaker of the rehala.

“Every day you have to clean them, take them out twice to relieve themselves, feed them —60 kilos of feed a day— and keep an eye out in case someone gets sick,” he says.

In addition to his daily work - "365 days a year" - his work as a podenquero includes accompanying the dogs during the hunts.

“Those days I get up at six, clean the dogs, take them out to relieve themselves, choose 25 and put them in the van.

Most of the hunts are in Sierra Morena, although there are also in Córdoba and Castilla-La Mancha”, explains Fernández.

“When it starts, the dogs beat a patch [zone] of the mountains trying to find a game —deer, deer and wild boar— and to get it out of hiding and go to the posts where the hunters are waiting,” he adds.

Next to the podenquero there is always an alano, a catch dog, to defend him in case a wild boar goes towards him.

In these situations, sometimes there are accidents, as Luis Muñoz explains: “For example, a wild boar can defend itself and bite a dog.

A deer can kick.

Or a deer can gore him.

That happened to one of our dogs a few days ago and now he is recovering from his injuries.

It is the law of life."

In his facilities, Muñoz has an area called a lazareto where he takes the injured dogs.

"We put hot water on them, stop the bleeding and attend to them."

Then, if he needs it, he takes them to the clinic to operate on them.

"We have operated on the injured dog for a leg and a dislocated hip."

He assures that all the hunters he knows urgently take their dogs to the vet after these sets.

“If a dog has suffered an accident, it is because he is good, because he does not give up.

It would be absurd to let him die, ”he continues.

Then can they go back to hunting?

“All the dogs here have war wounds and they are all still hunting.”

If there are monterías in Sierra Morena, a large part of Córdoba has small game reserves.

In a warehouse on the outskirts of Fernán Núñez, half an hour from the capital, Francisco Berral shows his individual and well-kept kennels, where four hounds, two Britons, and five little hound puppies bark.

"The kennels have natural light, double sheeting so they don't get hot or cold, I clean them often and I feed them the most expensive feed," says Berral.

“When I go hunting, I take three dogs [the maximum that Andalusian law allows for small game] so that they search through the undergrowth, there they can find a rabbit or a partridge, they scare it into coming out and then I shoot it.

Sometimes you give them, sometimes you don't, ”he continues.

The hunter Francisco Berral, together with one of his dogs in the Cordovan city of Fernán Núñez.PACO PUENTES

Podenco puppies with 40 days of the hunter Francisco Berral.PACO PUENTES

A podenco of the hunter Francisco Berral, the hunter and Francisco Cano, delegate of the Andalusian Hunting Federation in Córdoba.PACO PUENTES

Francisco Cano, delegate of the Andalusian Hunting Federation in Córdoba, summarizes the collective's position on his friend Berral's ship: “The animal protection law that is being debated goes against hunting.

We could not use the dogs, there would be a tremendous risk of an accident and cost us jail.

And without dogs there is no hunting”.

Sergio García Torres, director of Animal Rights at the Ministry of Social Rights, considers these fears unfounded: “If a dog suffers an accident, it is an accident, it is not abuse.

In fact, mistreatment has been punishable since 2015 and there are no complaints during hunting activities.

The laws of Castilla-La Mancha and the Valencian Community establish that hunting sets cannot be considered mistreatment, that is what the sector asked us for and we have incorporated that into the proposal”.

What would change the law if it is approved as it is?

The slaughter of dogs is made difficult except to avoid suffering and it is prohibited to take animals tied to moving vehicles, one of the ways to train greyhounds.

The animals must be registered in the Register of Companion Animals and, in order to have puppies, the owners must register in the Register of Breeders.

Both measures seek to reduce abandonment, but bother hunters, used to giving away and trading dogs without paper in between.

Dogs outdoors must be protected from inclement weather and have civil liability insurance (the latter is already mandatory when hunting).

In addition, hunters would be exempt from the dog handling course and the sociability test that would apply to everyone else.

The other option is to approve the law excluding hunting dogs, as the PSOE wants, and then make a specific rule for them.

The Socialists see this non-negotiable point due to their commitment to the hunting sector and groups in rural areas.

It would be about removing hunting dogs, shepherds, rescue, Police and Civil Guard dogs, as well as falconry birds.

According to the parliamentary left and animal organizations, this would leave "the most vulnerable dogs unprotected."

At an intermediate point is the latest proposal from Podemos: remove hunting dogs from the norm only while they are hunting, as is already happening in Castilla-La Mancha and the Valencian Community, both of the PSOE.

The negotiation continues this Tuesday.

Complaints for mistreatment

"Hunting dogs are the most vulnerable animals and, if the PSOE amendment goes ahead, they would be left unprotected," defends Patricia Almansa, president of Galgos del Sur, the protector located in Villafranca de Córdoba, about 20 minutes from the capital.

"Many greyhounds are usually abandoned at the end of the hunting season, in February, when they are no longer worth it, and also at the beginning, in October, because if the female has to breastfeed at that time, she cannot hunt," explains Almansa, interrupted. by the barking of the 120 animals that surround it.

There are greyhounds, hounds, mastiffs and other hunting dogs.

They are abandoned because they are useless for hunting, or because they are injured, also because they escape.

The association's 10 hectares include a large warehouse with three spaces for kennels (for newcomers,

Clark, a greyhound collected by the Greyhound Association of the South, in Villafranca (Córdoba).PACO PUENTES

X-ray of the hip fracture with which the Breton named Glory arrived at the Galgos del Sur Association in Villafranca (Córdoba).PACO PUENTES

Blackboard with the food rations of the association.PACO PUENTES

A worker from the Galgos del Sur Association, in the Cordoba town of Villafranca.PACO PUENTES

A group of greyhound puppies in one of the association's cages.PACO PUENTES

A working group with some of the greyhounds in the facilities of the enclosure.PACO PUENTES

A worker cleans the association's facilities.

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Everyone who comes here has a story.

Clark

a greyhound, was brought to the association by another hunter.

At that time there was no space in the facilities, so the man left and later the animal appeared tied to the door of the shelter;

he also had a broken leg.

a Breton, was run over, had a broken hip and amputated tail, something prohibited in Spain.

Elisabeth Viejo, the center's veterinarian, points out: “All the dogs that arrive here usually come malnourished, with ticks, fleas, diseases, tumors… In general, in very poor condition.

Grupo recently came, a podenco who had been shot in the face, and the shrapnel cannot be removed, although it can heal the wounds”.

They receive notices of abandoned dogs, tied to trees, thrown in the trash, run over.

They also denounce hunters whose dogs survive poorly.

As a result of one of these complaints, the Seprona confiscated a rehala in Granada in a "dantesque" situation, whose owner has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In another intervention in the same

In the province, the agents found

a starving mastiff: he weighed only 25 kilos when the normal is about 50 and had ticks and obvious signs of abuse.

He now looks plump at the association's facilities, waiting to be adopted.

The Benjamin Mehnert Foundation, in Seville, does similar work, which collects some 1,100 greyhounds abandoned by hunting every year.

Most are usually adopted in central European countries, more aware.

Danco, a mastiff requisitioned by the Civil Guard in a rehala in poor condition.

He weighed 25 kilos (when the normal is about 50), he was starving, full of ticks, with his ears and tail cut off, and he suffered from various diseases. Southern Greyhound Association

Danco has now regained his normal weight and is ready to be adopted.PACO PUENTES

Lindor, an Andalusian hound who was found tied to an olive tree with a broken leg. South Gauls Association

Lindor now, after the treatment and operations received in Galgos del sur.PACO PUENTES

Clark, a black greyhound who was left tied up at the door of Galgos del Sur.

He was malnourished and had a broken leg. Asociación Galgos del Sur

Clark now, after the treatment and operations carried out in Galgos del Sur.PACO PUENTES

Glory, a Breton collected from the municipal kennel of Córdoba, where she arrived with a broken hip. Galgos del Sur Association

Glory now, after the treatments carried out in Galgos del sur.PACO PUENTES

Another horror scenario is found on the Carbonell road, an unpaved lane very close to the Cordovan capital marked by plots where animals usually sleep.

At the end, there is one with dozens of shacks, many of them without natural light, where hundreds of hunting dogs survive in the cold and rain, some with obvious signs of malnutrition.

"Here there are a couple of rehalas, and then many hunting dogs, the animals are in unsanitary conditions, they are cold, they eat little, they are always barking and they are poorly cared for," says Javier Luna, also from Galgos del Sur, while pointing to one of the shacks

The Córdoba City Council has no record of any complaints or inspections of the place.

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The Seprona of the Civil Guard is in charge of monitoring the state of these animals.

Although there are no data at the national level, the province of Córdoba serves as an example, where the body has carried out some 100 inspections in the last three years and has verified 162 infractions, the majority due to lack of a chip or vaccines.

Pablo Muñoz is first corporal in the force and has carried out many inspections: “At the beginning of the hunting season we check that the dogs have a chip, mandatory from three months.

It is important so that later there are no dropouts.

During the season we also check whether the vehicles comply with animal welfare regulations.

And we also inspect facilities to see if they are in good condition.

In most cases they are, because dogs are the

of the hunter."

It remains to be seen if the rule will protect these animals if the hunter's hand hits the dog.

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