Help give a Spanish greyhound new home in East Yorkshire

A GROUP of dog-lovers are set to save a third Spanish greyhound by rehoming him in East Yorkshire.

Every year, 50,000 galgo hunting dogs in Spain are hanged, burnt to death or thrown down wells after being deemed useless by their owners.

The Greyhound Trust in East Yorkshire is campaigning to halt the barbaric practice.

The group has already achieved success by finding homes for galgos Gandalf and Pollyanna, who were brought to Hull a few months ago.

Now, seven-year-old Rey is coming to the city.

Hull greyhound owner Jen Elvridge has been battling to help galgos for the past 18 months.

She said: "Rey broke his leg and is no longer any use as a hunting dog so he would probably just be killed in Spain."

Jen said an experienced dog owner will need to take Rey in.

She said: "He is fine around people and larger dogs but he is a hunter so he can't be near cats, rabbits and smaller dogs.

"He just needs a ten-minute walk a day and a garden."

Galgos are very similar to British greyhounds and are used by hunters to help track down prey.

But once they are injured or grow too old, they are often discarded or killed.

Jen is delighted with the way Gandalf and Polyanna have settled in.

She said: "Gandalf was homed first and he has been doing really well.

"We have now found new owners for Polyanna and they love her to bits."

While Jen and fellow volunteer Jay Jansen are pleased to be housing the animals, they admit rehoming them over here is not the long-term solution as it costs too much.

Instead, they are pushing for more donations to help rehome them in Spain and support the rescue centres there.

Volunteers in East Yorkshire are working with British-born campaigner Charlotte del Rio who is helping save and rehome abandoned and mistreated galgos in Spain.

She said: "Jen and Jay have kindly been helping me with the plight of the Spanish galgo.

"Galgos are used like tools for hunting hares and then thrown away.

"They are hung, thrown in wells, burnt alive and many more atrocities occur.

"Rey is a galgo who came to us due to the abuse and abandonment he had endured. When discovered, he was skeletal and lay down in the dirt giving up.

"A girl in Sevilla saw him and took him in.

"He had a fracture from a snare. When we saw that Rey's leg was giving him pain, we operated and, for many months, he had pins in his leg. Had the break been higher, we would have considered amputation.

"He had three operations in total which cost us way more than 1,000 euro."

She said the dog was living up to his name.

"Rey means 'king' in Spanish," she said. "He is a fighter and a winner. He has survived and needs a really good home.

"Rey has won our hearts but we just need him to win someone else's heart who can offer him a home."

To make a donation, email Jay at jj@broomstick.karoo.co.uk or search for East Riding Greyhound Trust on Facebook.