Joining Forces with Daphne Legacy Tour, 17th Visit to Scooby, April, 2019

Scooby Galgos Look for Love

In April, 2019, it was my 17th visit to Scooby. This visit marks 8 1/2 years of volunteer work at Scooby.  I spent a few lovely days in Madrid before taking the train to Medina del Campo. Stayed in a hostel near the hustle and bustle of Puerta del Sol, and saw the amazing Easter parade. I realized that it is a huge party area, and people are up until 6 a.m., so I downloaded a white noise app for my phone to drown out the hooting and hollering.

Easter Parade in Madrid

Last year, I was in touch with Christina Azaharian Taylor from Daphne Legacy Tour (DLT). She had formed a non-profit in honor of her beloved Galga, Daphne, whom she had adopted from a rescue group in Barcelona. Her mission is to work with Greyhound groups who want to adopt out Spanish Galgos into loving homes in the USA, and to transport them. Chris' organization is sponsored by Friends of Retired Greyhounds in Denver, led by Lee Simpson and a crew of dedicated volunteers who work with both non-profits to save and place dogs into forever homes. My greyhound rescue group, Greyhound Friends for Life (Barb Judson), put us in touch with each other. 

Chris was contacting various Galgo rescue organizations in Spain, and many were skeptical because she had not brought lots of dogs to the USA. I introduced her to my Scooby Medina del Campo family (because, selfishly, I want Scooby dogs to be rescued), and all of the doors opened. She was able to bring 24 Galgos back on her first trip last year, and together, we brought 39 in April, 2019, who are now in loving homes. In October, 2019, 37 more will be transported to the USA, as well by DLT.  Amazing work! God bless you all for saving these precious souls. 

On this visit, I stayed in my favorite hotel in Medina del Campo, the Reina Isabel. Comfy and cozy always, and great staff.  Chris and her husband, Dray, had rented a very large van, and kindly picked me and a few other volunteers up there in the mornings to bring us to the shelter, and then dropped us off at night. We had several very nice dinners together, as well as some excursions to Salamanca, Zamora and Madrid. Our main focus was on meeting and preparing the Galgos for their transports. We gave some baths, prepared kennels, Chris and crew did all of the much-more-complicated paperwork for all 39 dogs, which was a feat in itself.

Salamanca

Zamora

We returned on various flights over three days and the Scooby team helped us get all of the dogs and kennels safely to the Madrid airport, some traveling through Chicago, others through JFK in New York. Some of us met with new obstacles and red tape related to USA Immigration and Customs. Ended up that I was rerouted from Madrid to JFK to Chicago because American downsized all of their planes. Huge hassle. Had to go from Madrid to Chicago to San Jose, and paid an extra $1,000 for me and the two Galgos. I will provide a separate posting about tips for getting through the new rules for bringing dogs to the USA from another country. 

The two dogs that I brought to NorCal were both adopted very quickly and are in their loving forever homes. I keep asking myself if I can do this work much longer, but after all of the dust settles and they go from rags to riches, I know that I can! Absolutely!

Pumuki - Adopted!

Estabon - Adopted!

Stay tuned! I am leaving for Madrid on 9/20/19 to bring two more Galgo souls to their forever homes. Meeting up with wonderful friends, who will also bring dogs to the USA. Will share our experiences with you when we return.

Hasta Luego! Thank you for reading my blog. Bless sends her blessings! Sara sends smiles!  Bones sends kisses and hugs!

Our gorgeous Galga, Bless!

Our gorgeous Galga, Sara!

Bonesey sends hugs and kisses!

Traveling to Spain? Consider becoming a Flight Angel and transporting dogs to the U.S.A. 

Goodbye Jake - A Tribute

Jake
Our Sweet American Eskimo

This is Jake's story.

What is the tie to my galgo blog? He was a beloved and invaluable pack mate across all of our dogs and cats over the past 12 years, including Sophie, our black lab mix, Jocko, our Chihuahua/Dachshund mix, Daisy, our first greyhound, Wilma, our second greyhound, Brody, our third greyhound, Bless, Sara and Bones, our three galgos, and three of our cats, Cleo, Gabe and Frank. Sadly, we lost him on July 3, 2019, just two days before his 12th birthday.

I used to tell him his story, almost every day:

One day, I went to my yoga class at the YMCA in Saratoga, CA, and while walking to the room, I ran into two of the teens who worked at the front desk. They had the cutest little puppy that I've ever seen in my life on a leash, and he and I made a connection immediately. It was LOVE at first sight! I made ga ga over him and asked who he belonged to. They didn't know. He had wondered into the building and one teen who lived in the neighborhood said that he had seen him wondering around here and there for a few days. I kept thinking about him all during class, and told my instructor, Barb about him, and hoped that she could see him too. When class ended, I rushed to the desk to ask about him, and he was still with the staff in the lobby. Barb got to see him and scratch his belly, as he rolled over for love. I was convinced that whomever his parents were, they would grieve over losing the cutest puppy I've ever seen.

I asked the staff what they planned to do with him. They planned to put up Lost Dog posters and would try to see if they could find his home. They didn't know what to do with him overnight. We had three dogs at that time, so I offered to take him home for the night and take him to my Vet the next day to check for a chip. They agreed. I loaded him into the back seat of the SUV, and then called my husband to let him know about the surprise. "Guess what?" "What?" "Guess what I have?" "A dog." "How did you know?" "I know you!"

Jake was welcomed and fit right in with all of our three dogs immediately. He acted like he had always lived in our house. When Darrell came home, Jake greeted him at the door with the other dogs, as though he was always ours. That first night, we had him on our bed between us, and he slept like an angel, like he was always ours and belonged there. Of course, we fell in love with him.

The next day, I took him to the Vet. They checked, and he did have a chip. The Tech called the chip company to learn more. We found out that he had come from Oregon, and was registered there with the name Garth. They then put the Tech in touch with the woman who registered the chip. She worked for a Vet in Oregon. The Tech relayed their conversation. He had come from a puppy mill. He was a rescue, and the only survivor of his litter, as all had Parvo virus. He was a 100% AKC registered American Eskimo. The Vet she worked for nursed him to health, she adopted him and gave him to her sister, who lived in Saratoga. Her sister was going through hard personal times, had cats and was impatient with having a puppy. He was only six months old, and she put him out into the streets. I relayed that we wanted him. She said that if her sister did not respond within three days, he was our dog. Three days passed, and we even tried to call her, but no response.  She didn't want him, which to me, was crazy. But it was our lucky day. We changed his ownership to us and renamed him, Jake, which suited him perfectly.

Jake was our angel dog. We always said to each other, "Where did he come from?" He brought so much joy, energy, fun, love and light to our lives, each and every day. He was a live wire, always playing, barking, wanting to give and receive love. He was my guardian angel. Whenever he went outside or we went anyplace, he would run into the house and look everywhere until he found me. He would not go to sleep until I did. He came to check on me numerous times every day or laid near wherever I was to watch over me. We had such a special connection. I had special songs that I sang to him, "How much is that doggy in the window?" and one that I made up, "You can keep the prettiest puppy that you ever did see." He would lay in my arms and I would sing him his songs. He loved stuffed animal toys and treats, digging holes, guarding his home, and barking at anything he felt like.  We had 11 1/2 years of pure love and joy.

In September, 2018, we moved from Jake's original home in West San Jose, to Carlsbad, CA. We feel like we live in paradise here, and the dogs love it. Jake has had a glorious 11 months here. We noticed that he had been failing, but we did not realize how serious it was. Over the course of the past 4 weeks, he fell very ill and even with excellent Vet care, there was nothing that we could do to keep him here with us. Exactly one week ago, he passed away peacefully in his sleep. I knew he was leaving us that day, and stayed up until 2:30 a.m., singing him his songs, telling him his story, and telling him to let go,  Woke at 5:15 a.m. and he was gone. We cried our tears and are still grieving. The Vet Tech came and took him for cremation. We have his paw print as another memory, along with those of our other babies we've lost. The music that his life brought us has stopped, and we go on alone without him. The World became lonelier last Wednesday when we lost another piece of our hearts. 

Jake - Just a few days before we lost him :-(

Jake, we love you and miss you so much. Looking forward to seeing you in Heaven, our angel dog. 

Hasta Luego! Thank you for reading my blog. Bless sends her blessings! Sara sends smiles!  Bones sends kisses and hugs!

Our gorgeous Galga, Bless!

Our gorgeous Galga, Sara!

Bonesey sends hugs and kisses!

Traveling to Spain? Consider becoming a Flight Angel and transporting dogs to the U.S.A. 

Please support Scooby and Greyhound Friends for Life. 

Sweet 16th Visit to Scooby in Spain, 8 Years of Love

Scooby Galgos

This was my 16th visit to Scooby to volunteer and to transport galgos to the USA for adoption, in late November, 2018. 

Madrid Skyline

Decided to travel to Spain a couple of days early to spend some time in one of my favorite cities, Madrid, before my travel companions arrived. Stayed in a small apartment near Plaza Mayor, close to all of the action. Had time to catch up from jet lag and visit my favorite haunts. One of my friends arrived on day three and I stayed in a lovely boutique hotel for one night and day, as we waited for our third friend who flew in that evening. We all met at the airport, picked up our rental car and drove to Medina del Campo to the Hotel Reina Isabel to rest up for our first full day at Scooby.

Galgos Ready for Forever Homes

We spent five days at Scooby as volunteers, cleaning paddocks, socializing and loving dogs, helping with loading up a transport of dogs for Germany and unloading a bread truck with food for the dogs.  It was a wonderful experience, as always.

We drove to Salamanca and visited for a few hours (cool city). 

Salamanca

Then returned to Madrid and had a great BnB flat City Central, from which we walked to see many sights and experienced great restaurants.  

We also had a heartwarming day trip to 112carlotagalgos.com to visit their lovely family, dogs and sanctuary in Malaga, southern Spain.

112 Carlota Galgos Yearning for Attention

All too soon, it was time to return home. One friend adopted two Scooby galgos, a boy and girl, and returned to California with both. Another took two to California for adoption via Greyhounds Friends for Life. That day that I was to fly, we learned that since the weather was too cold in JFK (NYC), they would not fly the dogs. Since I am retired, I decided to stay in Madrid until the weather got warmer in NYC. So the two galgos bound for NY had to wait back at Scooby, I waited and had an extended stay in Madrid for four days. Of course, it was so lovely being able to spend extra time in Madrid, and I even took a day trip to Toledo as well, which is one of the coolest places I've ever seen!

Beautiful Toledo

Once I was able to travel through JFK, it all went smooth. Scooby brought the two galgos to the Madrid airport, we waited and had some changes (as usual), we went through security with the dogs, I got to the terminal and had time for lunch, we boarded, and off to JFK. This time was a charm because I met a wonderful JFK TSA agent who had met the folks who were waiting for our galgos, and he helped me get the two dogs through Customs in seconds. The couple who picked up the two galgos were amazed, as was I, that everything was so easy. I had time to relax before my flight to SFO. Once in San Francisco, my Sister, Mary, and Brother-in-law, Dan, picked me up and I enjoyed a night with them in the SF Bay Area. Even had a tour of our old house we sold in July 2018.

Since my trip, both of the galgos that my friend adopted are doing great, the two brought back by my other friend are doing well and will soon be ready for adoption, and the two that I brought to NYC are in loving homes and doing fantastic.

Handsome and Shy Gabino

Handsome Pilo

I am returning to Spain and Scooby in April to work with a wonderful group of 7 volunteers who are part of the Daphne Legacy Tour, a non-profit whose charter is to transport rescued galgos from Spain to the USA. We will bring a record 30+ galgos to the USA between the 8 of us, and all will go to Greyhound groups and will be placed in loving homes. I am so proud and happy to be part of this group, and I thank Christina and Dray for all of their efforts. They are true Rock Stars, as this is not easy!

Please stay tuned for more updates and information.

Hasta Luego! Thank you for reading my blog. Bless sends her blessings! Sara sends smiles!  Bones sends kisses and hugs!

Our gorgeous Galga, Bless!

Our gorgeous Galga, Sara!

Bonesey sends hugs and kisses!

Traveling to Spain? Consider becoming a Flight Angel and transporting dogs to the U.S.A. 

Please support Scooby,Greyhound Friends for Life, and Daphne Legacy Tour.