- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I mentioned elsewhere that this weekend I visited a shelter in Seville to meet with a photographer that I look up to. He has a bittersweet story, but he attributes his first galgo, Leena. to saving his life, and is passionate about helping the breed. He is American and has founded a charity there which takes ex-hunting dogs from Spain and puts them into homes in the US. He raises awareness of their plight and produces some breathtakingly stunning images.
This is one of his, and is a self portrait with one of his dogs, created in honour of Leena. The rabbit signifies the hares that she was bred to hunt.
Anyway, when I heard last week that he was coming to Spain, I leapt at the chance to meet him, and contacted him. He was happy for me to visit the shelter and so I hired a car (not sure that mine would last the long journey to the south) and off I went!
The shelter is huge. Mind-blowingly huge. They have over five hundred dogs. They spend more than €10,000 a month on food. And they receive no funding from the government. It is clean and tidy, of course with some work needing to be done here and there, but they have a guest house which is filled with volunteers who travel from all over the world to spend time helping out. They also have permanent staff who live at the shelter, and an on-site vet clinic with two vets. It's a well-oiled machine and the staff are wonderful with the dogs. And those dogs just keep on coming. Every day, more and more are dropped off.
I took a few photos while I was there, but nothing award-winning! The dogs have exercise pens and they all get the chance to run every day, but there are no fields or anywhere scenic to shoot. But, still, these dogs are so lovely. Considering what so many of them have been through, they are remarkable.
I'll share some over the next few days for those of you not on FB. Here's the first, two of the dogs in the hospital ward, both with poorly legs. The one on the right is called Fede, I'm not sure about the other one.
In this enclosure, there were maybe fifteen dogs, most of them entire males, and there was no conflict at all. They laid down in the sun or shade in groups, took treats nicely, and played with a ball together. Some had limb injuries, others were recovering from skin conditions, or embedded collars, or eye infections. Some were brave and demanding attention, others a little more reserved. But all wonderful.
This is one of his, and is a self portrait with one of his dogs, created in honour of Leena. The rabbit signifies the hares that she was bred to hunt.
Man saying Goodbye to his dog by Travis Patenaude
Man saying Goodbye to his dog Photograph by Travis Patenaude
fineartamerica.com
Anyway, when I heard last week that he was coming to Spain, I leapt at the chance to meet him, and contacted him. He was happy for me to visit the shelter and so I hired a car (not sure that mine would last the long journey to the south) and off I went!
The shelter is huge. Mind-blowingly huge. They have over five hundred dogs. They spend more than €10,000 a month on food. And they receive no funding from the government. It is clean and tidy, of course with some work needing to be done here and there, but they have a guest house which is filled with volunteers who travel from all over the world to spend time helping out. They also have permanent staff who live at the shelter, and an on-site vet clinic with two vets. It's a well-oiled machine and the staff are wonderful with the dogs. And those dogs just keep on coming. Every day, more and more are dropped off.
I took a few photos while I was there, but nothing award-winning! The dogs have exercise pens and they all get the chance to run every day, but there are no fields or anywhere scenic to shoot. But, still, these dogs are so lovely. Considering what so many of them have been through, they are remarkable.
I'll share some over the next few days for those of you not on FB. Here's the first, two of the dogs in the hospital ward, both with poorly legs. The one on the right is called Fede, I'm not sure about the other one.
In this enclosure, there were maybe fifteen dogs, most of them entire males, and there was no conflict at all. They laid down in the sun or shade in groups, took treats nicely, and played with a ball together. Some had limb injuries, others were recovering from skin conditions, or embedded collars, or eye infections. Some were brave and demanding attention, others a little more reserved. But all wonderful.
