A number of years ago when I spent a small period living in inland rural Andalucia, Spain I witnessed, first hand, the level of cruelty which is still part of everyday practice here in some regions. I did not care to blog about the couple of incidents I was party to at the time because, to be perfectly honest, I had no wish to relive the experiences. I realise however things will not change until these practices are made public and dealt with. Beware to those of a sensitive disposition.

My first face to face encounter occurred only days into my arrival. I was out walking in the countryside near my home. Its magnificent walking country in the area – rugged and wild. I was walking down a path with a few trees – rare in this particular part of Andalucia. This is HOT country in the summer months. It was there I saw something dangling from a tree. From a distance it could have been anything, a brown bag or animal skin, but as I drew closer I realised it was a dog – a Podenco, a hunting dog. It was hanging mid-air from a tree; a thin rope in noose round its slender neck. It hadn’t been dead very long. I remember the sense of fear when I saw it and heard voices not far away. I called my little JRT to my side and, maybe needlessly, lifted him into my arms and ran back to the path. A little dramatic I realise now but seeing the dog there, and hearing the voices of the people who had done that nearby, really did make me question his safety. At that point I had no idea this was the standard practice huntsman took to “rid themselves” of their old hunting dogs.

The sight had upset me tremendously and I did a little research. The basic response then was “this is the way its always been done”. What good could I, a foreigner in the country, do? Absolutely nothing. I was a single voice. Sooner or later life moves on and I began to wonder if this maybe just a single, uncommon, incident. I hoped so. I was wrong.

A few weeks later I bore witness to the results of, what I am told was, a training exercise. Another dog having been tied with rope and dragged behind a vehicle. For what purpose I have no idea. What benefit could there be in such an exercise? The details of the sight I encountered I shall refrain from relating in graphic detail but if you are curious just try google images – there is plenty there. It was horrific.

Time once again passed and soon I decided life here simply was not for me. But, shortly before we left, I was to witness first hand the cruelty. This time a small black kitten who just happened to be in the path of a group of teenagers returning for a party. They seem to draw amusement from torturing the cat. I have never quite forgotten its screams but it was over before I could even get to the door. Its small body was left in the centre of the road. Mangled.

Since then I have encountered other acts of neglect and cruelty – often through ignorance. The dogs fed on scraps of bread and little else keeping them in a perpetual state of starvation, the dogs kept on balconies all day with inadequate food, water or exercise. The brutal beating of a dog because it had messed up the balcony (what else was it to do? it hadn’t been out in days…). The dogs just ditched in the middle of nowhere or drowned because their son or daughter had tired of their Christmas present or, rather unfortunately, because it was now an adult dog rather than a cute little puppy… This is the sort of cruelty that goes on across the world I appreciate. Its not isolated to rural Spain. Does this make it acceptable? No. Please, if you do care, join the cause.