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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Salamanca |
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| 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!
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| Pumuki - Adopted! |
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| 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!
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| Our gorgeous Galga, Bless! |
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| Our gorgeous Galga, Sara! |
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| Bonesey sends hugs and kisses! |
Traveling to Spain? Consider becoming a Flight Angel and transporting dogs to the U.S.A.
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