Does anyone have a podenco (ibizan hound)?

[Skippy-Lou]

We have two! they are both 1 year old and very cheeky but we couldn't love them more! :D

[tufti]

You are soooo lucky, they have to be my favourite breed. Its my dream to own an ibizan some day.

[Canyx]

Oooo! Any pictures of them? They are SO trim and glossy looking (I heard they can blush?)

[Vase]

One of my favourite breeds. I love sighthounds ;D

I wanna see pics :D

[briarlow]

My friend rescued and imported one from Spain and she's now with a builder who takes her everywhere and thinks she's wonderful. So many people said that they weren't a good breed etc, but she's been wonderful!

[kevala]

If you're looking to rehome podencos/Ibizan hounds this charity brings them into the country to find homes:

http://www.ibizanhoundrescue.com/

[lurchercrazy]

I too love sighthounds and love all of them equally (but greyhounds slightly more). Would love to see pictures.

[Kerriebaby]

If you're looking to rehome podencos/Ibizan hounds this charity brings them into the country to find homes:

http://www.ibizanhoundrescue.com/

Im going to be very unpopular here, I dont agree with bringing in dogs from abroad for rehoming when our rescue system is struggling enough as it is

****dons hat and runs for cover

[katy]

welcome S-L :) would love to see some pics of your hounds!


Im going to be very unpopular here, I dont agree with bringing in dogs from abroad for rehoming when our rescue system is struggling enough as it is


I agree.

[briarlow]

I also agree with you kerriebaby, they are enough dogs in this country needing homes without adding to the problem.

The rabies bite crisis last month was from a dog which was imported for this with a number of others.

[Nexttopmodel]

Ooo I love Ibizan Hounds :D
PICCIES!!!

[lakielady]

Im going to be very unpopular here, I dont agree with bringing in dogs from abroad for rehoming when our rescue system is struggling enough as it is

****dons hat and runs for cover

I don't either. I think all the time countries can export their problems, they won't address them, either. Can I share your bunker?:)

[Sassy Lassy]

welcome S-L :) .

Excuse me, i am the only S-L around these parts thank you!:)

Welcome skippy lou:)

[feelfree88]

I don't either. I think all the time countries can export their problems, they won't address them, either. Can I share your bunker?:)

I love my two podenco rescues beyond measure and so simply wanted to point out a couple of things to people who don't approve of importing rescues.

I appreciate your objection on the grounds of, enough rescue dogs here. However only a very few dogs come in from Spain to be rehomed. It is a long and laborious process, making sure they are healthy and rabies free. The numbers are miniscule. Especially when you actually look at the huge amount of dogs that are abandoned in these parts of Spain. I don't have the figures, but I think that the problem of abandoned dogs is something of an epidemic.

So, if you are committed to rehoming your rescue, you ARE going to wait. I had to wait 6 months for my first and 9 for my second.

Although these are adorable pets they are near on impossible to rehome in southern Spain. They are seen as vermin and are in danger while they are left roaming. They are likely to be shot at, hit by cars, deliberately, kicked and hit by complete strangers. These dogs will languish in rescues for years hoping to find homes in Spain.

The people who run the rescue in Mojacar (the link is on an earlier post) have had to find homes in northern europe, there are lots of societies up there dedicated to this. One of mine hitched a ride up in a convoy of dogs who were going to Scandanavia. I picked him up at Calais. I will check again but the last time I looked on the Wood Green website, the average time for a dog to be rehomed from WoodGreen was 6 weeks. I know this is AVERAGE and not to ignore the dogs that can't find homes. It's a credit to dog lovers in this country, and working together with foreign rescues I know that attitudes can be changed.

PAWS - PATAS People's Animal Welfare Society in Spain | Join PAWS-PATAS (http://www.PAWS-PATAS.org) do a lot of outreach work, educating children and getting locals involved. One day, podencos will get the respect and love they deserve in their own country.

The saddest part is how many of them are abandoned in the countryside, tied up and left to die slowly and in terror with no water or food in searing temperatures. At the end of the hunting season these animals are shot, abandoned, hung, often on low trees so that their death is slow and agonising (this is so the hunters can have some entertainment). They often have their legs broken so they can't follow their "owners" home.

My one last point is that this isn't someone else's problem. We are part of this earth together. If I went on holiday and found a dog in the sort of condition these dogs are in (see link below), I couldn't just say, "this is someone else's problem" and I don't think anybody on this site could.

Incidentally, there are reports that a lot of dogs in Spain are now being abandoned by people from the UK who have returned to the UK.

I only wanted to give another view on this issue and widen the perspective a little. Everyone has a right to an opinion, if people do not agree with mine, I respect that. I just wanted to shed a little light on the subject of Podencos. I should have called myself the Podenco Evangelist! lol!!! Whether people can accept that maybe a few foreign dogs isn't such a bad thing after all, or not I urge them to have a look at the PAWS website and the sister website IbizanHoundRescue.com to get a better view of the situation and maybe just donate, even if they don't want to adopt. I've included a link that came from a Galgo/podenco website as well.


Galgo Rescue International Network (GRIN) - Galgo Spanish Greyhound Rescue - The Horror in Ibiza (http://www.galgorescue.org/content/view/71/10/)

Best regards to you all, we all care for dogs after all.