Klea Levin uses her Barcelona villa as a temporary home for rescued greyhounds. Photograph: Paola deGrenet/Guardian
For the faithful greyhounds of southern Spain, life is fast, furious and often short. At the end of hunting season each year, thousands are rewarded for their efforts with a swift execution. Some are throttled with wire to save on bullets.
Now, however, the movement to confront such barbarity is gathering pace as rescued greyhounds – galgos in Spanish – become more and more popular among hipster communities and city dwellers in northern Spain.
As many as 2,000 animals are saved each year. Finding new homes for them used to be difficult, but not any more. According to Anna Clements, the co-founder and director of SOS Galgos, it is becoming more common to see young couples walking the dogs in Barcelona. “It is uplifting to see a happy galgo being walked in the city instead of how it used to be, when they miserably roamed the streets in search of food and water.”
Rescuing galgos in distress is not always easy or possible. “We all know that someone who is cruel to an animal can become violent towards people and unfortunately hunting is widespread and popular in rural areas of Spain, so dealing with hunters is very unpleasant,” says Clements, while taking part in a rescue operation in southern Spain
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