9th ANUAL WEST COAST GREYHOUND GATHERING 2013 SOLVANG CALIFORNIA
GRIN - Galgo Rescue International Network Presentation
February 23, 2013
Once again, GRIN wants to thank Teri Rogo and her greyt team for the opportunity to do a presentation at the gathering about the situation in Spain and the plight of the galgos.
Telma Shaw, GRIN Board Member and Adoption Coordinator and Mora Gonzani a GRIN volunteer shared with the audience some insight into the work that GRIN does to help the shelters in Spain. We are happy to say we had a great turn out and thank each person who came and showed their support for the galgos and podencos that need our help.
We started our presentation with a slight hiccup, a technical snafu with our audio for a video presentation on the FBM Shelter in Sevilla, but although the sound was only projected through our lap top, you could have heard a pin drop. We know the visuals told the story of this one shelter and how they work to save galgos at their rehabilitation center. Thanks everyone for bearing with us for the first half!! Next year given the opportunity, we promise to do better!!!
We also had a surprise guest all the way from Arizona via Spain. A special little Podenca who GRIN brought here last spring..her name is Trini, originally from Galgo Connection Spain www.galgoconnectionspain.org Thank you Keith Lewis for bringing your sweet little Podenca so that all our attendees could meet her! She is such a dear little soul a beautiful Ambassadog for the Podencos!!
There is so much that could be said about the situation in Spain. I decided to share some slides of my last trip to Spain in the Fall of 2012 and share from the heart the work we do to help the shelters that we work with. I shared about Galgos en Familia, Ecija Shelter, 112 Carlota Galgos and Galgos del Sol as these were the shelters we visited in the Fall.
Mora Gonzani also gave her presentation on one shelter she visited in the Fall. That shelter is the finca/ranch of 112Carlotagalgos in Malaga. Founded by Char del Rio and run as a family affair full of love and hard work for the galgos and podencos. She also talked about an amazing blog site www.yeartohelp.com written by a fantastic roving photographer Martin Usborne of the UK who visited Malaga and Chars shelter, to learn about the plight of the galgo. Thanks to his beautiful artful photographs he has been able to donate to the cause of the galgos and has a following that is also helping by supporting his work.
We enjoyed and appreciated having the opportunity to share our passion to help the galgo's "cousins" of the greyhounds at a greyhound event and we are touched by the people who want to help us help them. Thanks for your support!! We also want to say a BIG thank you to all those folks who brought bag after bag of collars, leashes and coats for our shelters that we support. These supplies are very much needed in Spain. As the dogs are adopted out, they are sent with a martingale collar for safety, and as we know, they are not readily available in Spain and also the cost is prohibitive. We are so happy to be able to send these supplies with our volunteers who go to Spain. Next shipment leaves with me in April. Thank you so much everyone!
We were able to spend some time in the beautiful Solvang area as well with our galgos and greyhounds!
On Saturday evening we had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Couto speak once again at the Solvang Greyhound Gathering. Dr. Couto is an amazing advocate for the greyhounds and the galgos! He shared with us his recent work in research as well as sharing his passion for volunteering in Spain at Scooby Medina Shelter www.scoobymedina.com with his veterinary students. We thank Dr. Couto for all he is doing for the health and benefit of greyhounds, galgos and sighthounds world wide!
Wow what a great time we had.. here are some final shots from the event..
