ARC takes in hunting dogs from Spain
North Fort Myers rescue hopes to acclimate greyhounds and place them in forever homes
In Spain, being groomed to be a hunting dog can be a very cruel thing. If the dog isn’t up to par, or once it ages to the point it can’t keep up, the end can be sad and harsh, as there are very few places a dog can go to be “put out to pasture.”
The Animal Refuge Center in North Fort Myers has given three of these dogs a ray of hope. With the help of another shelter in Spain, these dogs have been flown to America to hopefully find a forever home here.
ARC introduced these dogs to the world in a media event Saturday. They sent a message out about ARC’s mission while telling the story of these three dogs that had seemed destined to die.
The greyhounds were rescued from severe abuse and neglect in Spain and sent to ARC, where they will be rehabilitated over the next several weeks and put up for adoption once they are ready.
Leinen said thousands of these Spanish hunting dogs are bred every year. However, once the season is over, they are discarded, tortured or killed because they are not fast enough or sufficiently aggressive.
“The animals are treated as a tool for hunting. If they don’t do well, they are killed. Before the hunting season, if they act adversely to gunshots they are usually drowned,” Leinen said. “After the season, they are killed inhumanely.”
Wayne Leinen, president of ARC board, said ACR worked with organizations including the Network for Animals and Galgos del Sur in Cordoba, Spain, which came out for a tour to see if ARC would be an option.
“We spent the next 10 months seeking out the intricacies of what it would take to bring a group of these dogs from Spain to here,” Leinen said.
It cost between $1,200 and $1,500 per dog to transport along with a chaperone to get through the paperwork. They were flown to Miami, went through immigration and brought to the shelter.
The animals were checked out physically in the clinic. There were some scars and the dogs were very timid at first because of the environment of getting poked and prodded and their introduction to their own lodge with people who show them kindness every day.
“We don’t let just anyone handle them yet. We’re easing affection on them. But now, we’re ready to have a lot more volunteers work with them,” Leinen said. “We want to get to know them well so they can go to the right homes.
The dogs are between three-and-a-half and four-and-a-half years old. Rex is a red Bengal greyhound and is the shyest with her own lodge. Neptune is a tan-brown Bengal and Harlo is a black greyhound who lodges with Neptune and is the least skittish.
ARC has about 350 animals waiting for their forever homes. The shelter does not turn an animal down if there is space. As a no-kill shelter, the animal is safe for life, regardless of whether the animal is adopted.
ARC is no stranger to rescuing animals from outside the area. Leinen said it started with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when they made two trips to take more than 60 animals and have done several other mass intakes from other shelters.
“For these animals the story is so sad and profound that we couldn’t help but want to be involved,” Leinen said.
ARC is at 18011 Old Bayshore Road in North Fort Myers.
For more information about ARC to inquire about donating of adopting, go to animalrefugecenter.com.