"They're a greyhound with a sense of humor"
May 2, 2020 7:01 AM Subscribe
Galgos are a Spanish dog breed similar in appearance to Greyhounds. They are a notoriously mistreated animal, often discarded when their Galgueros consider them useless for hunting or racing. There are numerous rescue groups in Spain that focus on the breed -- my favorite being Galgos del Sol. In 2018, after 4 years of work, filmmaker and Galgo-owner Yeray López Portillo finished Yo Galgo (trailer), which is free to watch online, this weekend only. (CW: animal abuse; hunting/racing culture; slaughterhouses)
Hunting in Spain has been historically the privilege of the aristocratic class-- they were the ones who owned the land. Nowadays aristocrats don't have so much power, but hunters tend to be... well, rich and more than conservative. So much that the only political parties who have an explicit pro-hunting stance are the conservative PP and above all, the far right VOX.
People to the left of them are the ones who see the upper class gits arriving in their expensive jeeps with their expensive shotguns and their padded waistcoats ("fachalecos" : a portmanteau of "fascist" and "vest") to shoot at partridges and don't even stop by the village to drink a soda at the bar. We are not terribly amused by this subculture.
It doesn't help either that both Francisco Franco and the former king Juan Carlos I were hunting aficionados. Both were derided for having their prey released in front of them so they could kill them easily, and a good part of the reasons that Juan Carlos abdicated was that he had notoriously shot a drugged, domesticated bear and years later he got a broken hip when he was hunting elephants in Botswana with his mistress and he slipped on the floor. The hunting subculture during the tardofrancoism was portrayed by Luis García Berlanga in the National Shotgun film trilogy. It hasn't changed so much.
And now you know the kind of people who leave their galgos hanging from trees at the end of the hunting season.
posted by sukeban at 8:54 AM on May 2, 2020 [18 favorites]
People to the left of them are the ones who see the upper class gits arriving in their expensive jeeps with their expensive shotguns and their padded waistcoats ("fachalecos" : a portmanteau of "fascist" and "vest") to shoot at partridges and don't even stop by the village to drink a soda at the bar. We are not terribly amused by this subculture.
It doesn't help either that both Francisco Franco and the former king Juan Carlos I were hunting aficionados. Both were derided for having their prey released in front of them so they could kill them easily, and a good part of the reasons that Juan Carlos abdicated was that he had notoriously shot a drugged, domesticated bear and years later he got a broken hip when he was hunting elephants in Botswana with his mistress and he slipped on the floor. The hunting subculture during the tardofrancoism was portrayed by Luis García Berlanga in the National Shotgun film trilogy. It hasn't changed so much.
And now you know the kind of people who leave their galgos hanging from trees at the end of the hunting season.
posted by sukeban at 8:54 AM on May 2, 2020 [18 favorites]
Most people in the world do not treat dogs like human children.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:09 AM on May 2, 2020
posted by SoberHighland at 9:09 AM on May 2, 2020
@sukeban How many of the 850k licensed hunters are supposed to be aristocrats? how many of the 3.6 million VOX voters? The Spanish aristocracy is but a small part of the hunting scene, even less so in the northern half of Spain. What percentage of dog abusers do you think are upper class? brutes are brutes, class has nothing to do with it (and by the way, aristocrats have people to tend after their dogs)
posted by valdesm at 9:17 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by valdesm at 9:17 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Dunno, how many poor people keep a whole pack of big dogs that are only useful for hunting?
posted by sukeban at 9:24 AM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by sukeban at 9:24 AM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
Most people in the world do not treat dogs like human children.
Weird flex but okay
posted by Automocar at 9:40 AM on May 2, 2020 [17 favorites]
Weird flex but okay
posted by Automocar at 9:40 AM on May 2, 2020 [17 favorites]
Most people in the world do not treat dogs like human children.
What the actual fuck? Treating animals with dignity is not "treating them like children."
I own two greyhounds. They get structured crate time, 4+ hours per day. 8 when/if I return to working in an office. They do not go on furniture. They do not eat human food. They are kept on leashes when I leave the house.
They are treated like dogs.
But they're not beaten, they're not dragged, they're not going to get hanged from a tree if they disappoint me.
Animal cruelty is cruelty, no matter what. I eat meat, and I'd still be aghast if cattle were treated as these dogs are described as being treated. Killing animals may be necessary under certain circumstances, but torturing them never is.
posted by explosion at 9:58 AM on May 2, 2020 [33 favorites]
What the actual fuck? Treating animals with dignity is not "treating them like children."
I own two greyhounds. They get structured crate time, 4+ hours per day. 8 when/if I return to working in an office. They do not go on furniture. They do not eat human food. They are kept on leashes when I leave the house.
They are treated like dogs.
But they're not beaten, they're not dragged, they're not going to get hanged from a tree if they disappoint me.
Animal cruelty is cruelty, no matter what. I eat meat, and I'd still be aghast if cattle were treated as these dogs are described as being treated. Killing animals may be necessary under certain circumstances, but torturing them never is.
posted by explosion at 9:58 AM on May 2, 2020 [33 favorites]
I love sighthounds and will be looking for more information about the breed. Sounds like the doc would be too much for me, but thanks for bringing the breed to my attention!
posted by Sheydem-tants at 10:14 AM on May 2, 2020
posted by Sheydem-tants at 10:14 AM on May 2, 2020
I should also have mentioned that GDS does have some dogs available in the USA.
posted by dobbs at 10:35 AM on May 2, 2020
posted by dobbs at 10:35 AM on May 2, 2020
Beautiful dogs. Horrible, horrific stories. Can't watch.
(I have seen my share of terrible, volunteering at animal shelters over the years.)
posted by Glinn at 10:42 AM on May 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
(I have seen my share of terrible, volunteering at animal shelters over the years.)
posted by Glinn at 10:42 AM on May 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
Dunno, how many poor people keep a whole pack of big dogs that are only useful for hunting?
That's kind of the point isn't it? that poor people can't feed unproductive dogs?
posted by valdesm at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
That's kind of the point isn't it? that poor people can't feed unproductive dogs?
posted by valdesm at 10:56 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
That's kind of the point isn't it? that poor people can't feed unproductive dogs?
As mentioned in the article and in the comments right above yours, it is not poor people who are horrifyingly mistreating, mutilating, and torturing galgos.
I would excerpt the parts about how they are mistreated, but it is some real horrifying shit.
posted by Ouverture at 11:04 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
As mentioned in the article and in the comments right above yours, it is not poor people who are horrifyingly mistreating, mutilating, and torturing galgos.
I would excerpt the parts about how they are mistreated, but it is some real horrifying shit.
posted by Ouverture at 11:04 AM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
If their owners actually loved them then why are they killed and abandoned so much when they are no longer capable of hunting right at the time when the hunting season ends, that is really the point. That galgos are killed and abandoned in the thousands every year because of the callousness of their owners is the fact of it all.
Being able to discard dogs every 2-3 years as these hunters do, and to buy their replacements, only says that this is not a poor people hobby.
posted by sukeban at 11:08 AM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
Being able to discard dogs every 2-3 years as these hunters do, and to buy their replacements, only says that this is not a poor people hobby.
posted by sukeban at 11:08 AM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
That's kind of the point isn't it? that poor people can't feed unproductive dogs?
If we were talking about people who were actually so poor as to both rely on the dogs to help them hunt for sustenance and also so poor as to be unable to afford to care for them between hunting seasons, they're clearly so close to chronic malnutrition that slaughtering the dogs for food would be a practical necessity, and therefore something I'd consider unfortunate but acceptable.
But killing a non-dangerous/non-pest animal and just leaving it where it lay (or hang) is the privilege of those who are decidedly not starving.
posted by tclark at 1:26 PM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
If we were talking about people who were actually so poor as to both rely on the dogs to help them hunt for sustenance and also so poor as to be unable to afford to care for them between hunting seasons, they're clearly so close to chronic malnutrition that slaughtering the dogs for food would be a practical necessity, and therefore something I'd consider unfortunate but acceptable.
But killing a non-dangerous/non-pest animal and just leaving it where it lay (or hang) is the privilege of those who are decidedly not starving.
posted by tclark at 1:26 PM on May 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
Dunno, how many poor people keep a whole pack of big dogs that are only useful for hunting?
To be clear: the roots pf coursing are in hunting but now there is prize money involved and associated gambling and with the sheer number of dogs I would bet that people are very likely breeding dogs at home to make money either selling or racing them or betting on them. It's probably been hundreds of years since anyone used coursing dogs to put food on the table in Europe.
I understand that not all people keep dogs as pets and won't keep an animal that can't earn it's keep. I may not agree but I understand it, but torturing or starving an animal to death and leaving corpses all over? Wtf? How did that become an acceptable part of a culture of dog ownership? It sounds more like dog fighting than any working dog situation.
And btw, both hare and lure coursing are legal and occur in the US and a number of other European countries too. Maltreatment of dogs has been really cracked down on but certainly occurred in the past but I've never heard of anything widespread like this even decades ago.
posted by fshgrl at 1:36 PM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
To be clear: the roots pf coursing are in hunting but now there is prize money involved and associated gambling and with the sheer number of dogs I would bet that people are very likely breeding dogs at home to make money either selling or racing them or betting on them. It's probably been hundreds of years since anyone used coursing dogs to put food on the table in Europe.
I understand that not all people keep dogs as pets and won't keep an animal that can't earn it's keep. I may not agree but I understand it, but torturing or starving an animal to death and leaving corpses all over? Wtf? How did that become an acceptable part of a culture of dog ownership? It sounds more like dog fighting than any working dog situation.
And btw, both hare and lure coursing are legal and occur in the US and a number of other European countries too. Maltreatment of dogs has been really cracked down on but certainly occurred in the past but I've never heard of anything widespread like this even decades ago.
posted by fshgrl at 1:36 PM on May 2, 2020 [5 favorites]
Are you ever confronted with boundless human cruelty and so overwhelmed by it you want to throw up? The NatGeo article and trailer gutted me. I’m glad you shared though. I have a sato, a Puerto Rican street dog, and the story of satos is not the same as galgos but some of the horrendous things done to them is — we are lucky to be the retirement home for this good dog.
Dogs evolved to be in relationship with humans. To rely on us. To dismiss the unspeakable torture these dogs are put through as somehow related to merely not treating them as “human children” is disturbing, and I don’t know why you made it here, SoberHighland. More than just ignoring that special bond between canines and humans, it’s suggesting that to criticize this cruelty is a uniquely Western trait. As if people the world over don’t have the capacity to love and bond with dogs.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 8:22 PM on May 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
Dogs evolved to be in relationship with humans. To rely on us. To dismiss the unspeakable torture these dogs are put through as somehow related to merely not treating them as “human children” is disturbing, and I don’t know why you made it here, SoberHighland. More than just ignoring that special bond between canines and humans, it’s suggesting that to criticize this cruelty is a uniquely Western trait. As if people the world over don’t have the capacity to love and bond with dogs.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 8:22 PM on May 2, 2020 [7 favorites]
Mod note: One deleted. SoberHighland, but you seem to want to have an argument that has nothing to do with the post. The article is not "Galgos owners fail to treat them like human children," and there's no reason to continue to pursue this derail.
posted by taz (staff) at 7:33 AM on May 3, 2020
posted by taz (staff) at 7:33 AM on May 3, 2020
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