It's a little hard to stomache...the way SOME Spanish treat animals. Dogs, in general, are treated with little regard. Many housepets look like they never are combed out, given a bath or innoculated. The law states that dogs in pounds are to be euthanized after three days, and, these dogs, they've all been abandoned by previous owners--conveniently after the end of hunting season.

The day I took this picture, we were driving by after we'd adopted our dog, and thought we'd stop in to see how things were going. As you can see, things weren't going too well. Mitch took one look, got in the car and said, "let's go." Feces and urine was everywhere. Stronger dogs had been hoarding the food for days while weaker dogs became ill; many perished.

I found this kennel while looking for a greyhound to adopt. What I found online was SOS galgos, and Anna. Anna, a British lady, moved to Spain after seeing the inhumane treatment of the racing dogs here while on vacation. She has since succeeded in shutting down all of the tracks in Spain, excepting the Barcelona track (which just recently had 800 sick dogs to place). The manager of this particular kennel had also contacted Anna for help in placing these dogs. We were fairly close, within an hours drive, and so we went to see the dogs.

The first day there, the three of us got out of the car. We took a look at all of the galgos (Spanish greyhounds), of which there were aproximately 45 in this very same pen. There were also another 50 or so dogs in the rest of the kennel. Walking around, looking into the pens, we discovered a puppy lying helplessly in its own blood in a pen with several adult dogs. After talking with a worker, we learned that the puppy had been stolen, and then brought back and tossed into this pen over a 10 foot fence to land on the hard pavement below only to be grabbed by the neck and shaken by one of the other dogs. The puncture wounds were bleeding about the neck.

Juan Jesus, the manager with a big heart, but little knowledge, took the puppy back to the office where we watched as he tried to perform first aid by swabbing the area repeatedly with a cotton ball. I asked if Mitch could help. Mitch took over. He decided that the puppy had a wound about the neck probably caused by another dog attacking it. After some rough first aid, we told them to put the puppy in a box in a cozy space in the office, and not to put it back with any dogs until it was better. We learned later that this puppy survived and was adopted, but I don't know what's happened to it since.

It wasn't until our second or third trip to the kennel that we decided on our road back that the dog we liked out of this poor lot probably wouldn't make it until our next trip. We turned around, and asked to adopt her.

I asked if I could see the long haired, fawn female amongst the crowd, thinking that Juan Jesus would leash her, and bring her out. No such luck. Spanish don't typically leash their dogs, and so I was expected to walk into the crowd--and filth--to see her. Skirting around the feces, I was rather worried that one of the male dogs would growl or try to attack me. It was quite the opposite. I've never experienced anything in my life quite like what happened. Nearly 50 beautiful and loving dogs surrounded me with such overwhelming affection, each one licking and saying hello. I wish we could have adopted a few more.

The female we chose was constantly walking. She wasn't too active, and we thought she might be an older dog. But, she was affectionate, and we liked the way she looked. After filling out a short form, we were free to take her home.

Caught red pawed, Espana has a thing for tearing up paper, her favorite--toilet paper.

In the car ride home, I knew that Espana was sicker that we initally thought. She began coughing, and was rather lethargic. Extremely emaciated, her stool was runny. As soon as I could, I gave the vet a call to see if I could drop off a stool sample.

The vet, Dr. Brown, is a blast to visit, although, he does like to talk. Later he told me that I made their day in the vet clinic, our stool sample had rung true--three times. She had three different parasites in her stool, tape worm, hook worm, and another, not really a parasite, coccidea. Additionally, she was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection. Later, I would discover she also had ring worm. We started her on medicine right away, and after spotting the skin fungi, I applied Tinactin, an anti-fungal.

Today, nearly three months later, she has gained five pounds, and is a loving part of our family. Mitch has a blast taking her for runs, and enjoys finally having "his own" dog to take care of. None of us, however, enjoy picking up her very large presents that she leaves for us outside.

I have to put up a gate to keep her off of my bed. She's thoroughtly spoiled now, taking one room complete with sofa as her own, and pushing her way up on another to join the family movie nights.