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autumn winter newsletter 2011

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we are dedicated to the welfare and rescue of greyhounds especially those in spain information about us greyhounds in need registered charity in england and wales no 1069438 registered uk office 33 high street wraysbury middlesex tw19 5da uk tel 00 44 0 1784 483206 fax 00 44 0 1784 482501 email info@greyhoundsinneed.co.uk website www.greyhoundsinneed.co.uk founders anne and arthur finch patrons jilly cooper obe alexandra bastedo trustees carl boyde mrcvs terry dickens martin humphery liz mason treasurer/trustee geoffrey levy fca general manager carolyn davenport 01784 483206 bournemouth shop sue north 01202 513000 brighton shop christine page 01273 674100 homing officer uk patricia whipps 01784 434735 supporter/homing group cheshire and the north west carol cushnie 07872621524 sue phil white 0161 620 6094 membership secretary audrey darbyshire merchandise 01784 483206 sponsorship 01784 483206 webmaster leigh dworkin

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drawing by monica monti index introduction trustees pages defra quarantine rules/galgos to the uk sponsor form residencia canina el planas happy homings uk and abroad how you can help gin bank mandate form gift aid form membership christmas treats for the galgos homing update events english greyhounds to italy brighton shop news bournemouth shop news news from cheshire and the north west tributes our current quarantine galgos our work in spain galgos for the uk 4 6 8 10 11 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 24 25 26 28 30 31 35

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dear friends it s time for another newsletter and as ever it s been a busy year following our fact-finding visits to spain i am pleased to say that we have been able to expand the help we give to the refuges/shelters ­ more about this on pages 31-34 many of you will have already heard that from 1st january,2012 the uk lurchy and mary-anne will harmonise its pet movement rules welcoming visitors to hq with the rest of the european union this will have implications for our charity on the number of galgos we bring to the uk each year ­ more on this on pages 8-9 we would like to thank all involved for once again supporting our summer raffle which with tickets and linked donations brought in around £4,000 lynne and geraldine at hq week after week meticulously logged all the responses and mrs rona pitt a wraysbury resident very involved with fundraising in the community especially for the local church kindly drew the winning tickets at the end of july greyhounds rescue belgium again organised their greyhound memorial day in memory of greyhounds and galgos throughout the world that have been treated so appallingly when their useful working life is over geraldine and i attended this event held in antwerp there were approximately 200 people and 300 dogs greyhound memorial day photo grb it was particularly pleasing to meet in the flesh so many of the dogs which we have been able to help but which had previously been seen only in photographs 4

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breakfast for the entire congregation was served and it was marvellous to see how quiet and well-behaved the dogs were during the meal the priest completed the blessing and as in previous years hundreds of blue balloons were launched in memory of the greyhounds every year a fun dog show is organised in the grounds of tatton park in knutsford cheshire which is a very popular heritage attraction with a deer park mansion farm lakes all set in wonderful grounds sue phil carol dave jo and their helpers have a stand for gin at this show this year martin geoffrey and i were able to go along it was nice for us to meet up with many of the volunteers and to help on the stand the weather could have been kinder but it didn t stop people coming along and it was wonderful to see so many greyhounds and some galgos getting lots of fuss from the public plus some rosettes in the dog show more news from cheshire on pages 26 and 27 we enclose our new merchandise catalogue and are pleased to announce that merchandise will be able to be bought on line by the end of the year due to rising costs including vat and postage we have found it necessary to increase our prices but have tried to keep these to a minimum please note that all our prices now include postage and packing we have included new items which we hope you like and have again produced our own calendar featuring our rescue dogs homed here and abroad thanks to everyone for sending in their photographs a big thank you from all of us to everyone who sends in dog coats medicines blankets ,dog bowls leads etc for us to send to spain there are not many days that we don t receive a parcel or two here at wraysbury and our regular coat makers have been very grateful for the singer sewing machine needles we received following our appeal for these in the last newsletter carolyn 5

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trustees pages the pace of our work never seems to slacken and i must start by expressing on your behalf grateful thanks to all our staff and volunteers ably led by carolyn the hot news is that as you can read on page 8 the legal requirement for quarantine of dogs entering the uk will come to an end on 1st january 2012 for some years veterinary opinion has been that six month s quarantine is excessive but few people thought that it would be entirely scrapped and this sudden decision has caused a lot of re-thinking our long-term plans must depend to some extent on experience but we have decided to make a start by increasing the number of galgos we bring into uk in order to satisfy some of those kind people who have been disappointed in their hopes of adopting one of these wonderful dogs to some extent this development is not all good news and we have a fear that it may lead to the indiscriminate importation of unsuitable or unhealthy dogs time will tell our all-important education project in spain is starting to bear fruit i direct your attention to page 31 we will have more news for you as this initiative gathers pace in our last newsletter i mentioned the difficult question of how much detail and pictures of cruelty to galgos we should publish and i am grateful to those who took the trouble to respond the general view seems to be that supporters do not wish to see or read bad stories of which sadly there is no lack of supply i accept that this is the majority opinion and so we have decided that this kind of information which provides the justification of all we do should be restricted to a discrete location on our website where it can be found by those interested 6

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supporters will remember the outcry following the proposal by the irish greyhound board to export dogs to china for racing given the appalling record of the chinese regarding animal welfare and in particular their maltreatment of dogs things seem to have gone quiet on this front but we remain watchful the picture shows a protest outside the irish embassy in london in which you may be able to see me representing gin we thank all our supporters who joined in by writing to the irish authorities we also asked for your support in writing to the spanish local government in chinchilla protesting against the dreadful cruelty of local galgo owners who abandoned their dogs in a cave to die of starvation again our thanks go out to those who responded regretfully but unsurprisingly no action has been taken against the perpetrators finally readers will see in this issue news of further visits by trustees and staff to refuges in spain we gain enormously valuable insights on such visits as well as being able to thank those wonderfully dedicated spanish people who give their all to help to redress the neglect and cruelty so common in their country we assure them of our continued help made possible by our generous supporters meanwhile i wish all our friends and supporters a very happy christmas and don t forget to order your gin christmas cards and calendars martin 7

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defra quarantine rules/galgos to the uk from 1st january,2012 the uk will harmonise its pet movement rules with the rest of the european union this has come about because the derogation under which the uk is permitted to opt out of the eu regulation requiring free movement of people and goods between member states expires at the end of 2011 all pets will still need to be vaccinated against rabies pets from the eu and listed non-eu countries will no longer need a blood test and will only have to wait 21 days before they travel full details can be found here http www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/06/30/new-rules-pet-passports our current group of galgos in quarantine shown on page 30 will be released on 5th december and we are very pleased that all have homes waiting for them the change recently announced by defra means that we will no longer have to put our galgos into quarantine kennels for six months while this is on the face of it good news we are very concerned that gin should continue careful checking of dogs for adoption in this country both in respect of potential diseases and of their behavioural characteristics including suitability of homing with children and other animals we have decided that we will continue to carry out stringent health checking by pep the vet we have worked with for many years now in vic barcelona pep has his own veterinary clinic and boarding kennels many galgos that we take from the refuges/shelters in spain are taken to pep we visited pep recently full report on pages 11-13 and were able to see the galgos that are now in quarantine here soon after their arrival at vic pep and pilar who helps with their care were able to talk to us about each dog and it is this information we need in order to find homes for the galgos here in the uk pep lets us know when the galgos are ready to leave his kennels and we can then organise their transportation 8

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it has been decided that mid-january 2012 weather permitting we will bring 10 galgos to the uk we will kennel these galgos with precious pets in gloucestershire for at least four weeks on their arrival so that they can be properly assessed before being adopted up until now because we have had the galgos in quarantine for six months potential adopters have been able to visit them and choose a galgo they would like to home and we then reserve this galgo for them from now on we hope potential adopters will choose a galgo from the photographs and details we publish on our website and for our first group their photos and details are included in this newsletter ­ pages 35-36 these galgos will be arriving at vic in the coming weeks and pep will be carrying out necessary blood tests sterilisations etc getting them ready for homing if you are interested in offering a home to one of these galgos please contact pat our homing officer by phone 01784 434735 or email patriciawhipps@ntlworld.com our homing pack is available to download on line from our website our very heavy costs for veterinary care and transport will therefore continue and in some cases dogs will need longer than 4 weeks in our care here in the uk before release for these reasons we will continue to run our sponsorship scheme and hope that our kind supporters will continue their sponsorship of these rescued dogs during their time in spain and the uk kennels please see page 10 gin has brought many galgos and greyhounds to the uk over the years and aims to continue its standard of care for these much abused dogs 9

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sponsorship the galgos breed name galgo español are spanish bred greyhounds used widely by hunters in the rural areas of spain for coursing hares with betting the galgos we help are homed mainly in belgium france germany italy slovenia and switzerland thanks to our contacts abroad however we bring small groups to the uk each year all are sterilised micro-chipped and have been tested and found clear of mediterranean diseases before they come to the uk our current group of galgos leave quarantine on 5th december and all have homes waiting for them our new group who will no longer need to be quarantined will be arriving mid-january 2012 details can be found on pages 35-36 if you would like to sponsor one of the galgos while they are being prepared for homing please complete the sponsor form below and return to greyhounds in need 33 high street wraysbury middx tw19 5da if you are interested in offering a home to one of our galgos please contact pat our homing officer by email patriciawhipps@ntlworld.com or by phone -01784 434735 pat can then send you our homing pack sponsor a galgo i would like to sponsor a galgo and wish to give greyhounds in need circle as appropriate £5 per month £10 per month £25 per month other amount £ per month if you are a uk tax payer please tick the box so that we can claim gift aid on your sponsorship full details on page 17 name and address of your bank bank address post code instructions to your bank please pay the above amount on the same day every month starting on the until further notice sort code account number account holder s name account holder s address post code signature date 11 10

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residencia canina el planas better known to us as pep s kennels in vic i last visited vic over seven years ago when we first started to board our rescue dogs with him at that time pep was building some more kennels on his land and also converting an old barn to make a new home for himself and his wife carmen i always hoped that one day i could go back again and see this work completed and fortunately this was possible earlier this year when i travelled to vic with martin our chairman and christine who lives near wraysbury speaks excellent spanish and will soon be joining us as a trustee we drove from barcelona airport to pep s clinic in vic from the short time we were there it was pep christine and martin obvious that this was a very busy clinic pep was operating when we arrived and later showed us the operating room with all the necessary equipment including the x-ray area he explained the blood testing he can do on site for the mediterranean diseases and showed us the equipment he uses next to the clinic pep and his business partner danny have a pet shop and in a room at the back there is a grooming parlour run by carmen pep then took us to his kennels in the hills a forty minute drive from the clinic the kennels and pep s home are now complete and what a wonderful place to live and what a lovely peaceful place for the galgos we send to vic to spend some time putting on weight and 11

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recovering from the ordeals many of them have suffered pep has built a kennel block to house the galgos ­ two or three galgos are kennelled together they have a large sleeping area with raised beds and in the winter the kennels are heated off this area the dogs have a run and in a corner under cover food and fresh water are available 24 hours a day pep told us that the galgos are not greedy and he feels that the food should be available all day and this automatic feeding system has proved successful and there are no fights over food opposite the kennel there are several exercise paddocks and the galgos are let out there every day in the summer months pep puts an awning over part of this area to give shade for the dogs when we visited we had 22 galgos boarded with pep and it was wonderful to see them all looking so well and happy as soon as pep and pilar who also lives on site and looks after the galgos on a daily basis approached the kennels the dogs pilar and candy 12 were jumping around so excited to see them.

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the younger galgos had great fun digging holes in the exercise paddock and then lying in them looking very pleased with themselves pep carmen and pilar are obviously animal lovers and as well as their own dogs and our galgos they have other rescues ­ a donkey three mares a wild boar ducks chickens geese and birds pep also has kennels for boarding dogs ­ mostly his client s dogs over the years we have sent hundreds of galgos and greyhounds to vic the galgos coming from refuges in albacete almendralejo chiripaina jaen madrid and murcia and the greyhounds from the barcelona track now thankfully closed whilst we were at vic two galgos arrived from the recal shelter in almendralejo they had travelled for 12 hours and it was amazing to see them come out of their big crates which we had recently purchased for recal and see all of us pep and pilar were soon busy checking them over before getting them settled into their kennel necessary re-testing sterilisations etc would start the next day we all enjoyed our visit and were very impressed with pep and his team and the care they give to our dogs and look forward to continuing our work together which will be much easier now for me with the help from christine and her partner salva 13 carolyn

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happy homings uk and abroad delboy a greyhound from the uk now happily homed in italy nobel originally from madrid now living in belgium iris originally from refugio kimba now living in belgium chico from the recal shelter in almendralejo enjoying life in france candy from almendralejo now living in belgium 14 howie and gabrielle rescued with their mother ira in murcia now homed in belgium

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william now living in the uk ira the mother of the pups also now in belgium zena sister of howie and gabrielle page 14 now living in belgium lucera chico rebeca and lyno all from the recal shelter in almendralejo now enjoying life in france thanks to wilfrid and led winnie pizza now living in the uk 15 sophie enjoying the sunshine in france

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