Spain update 02 May 2025
Friday, the 2nd of May 2025
A week after she was officially adopted, Clementine was already a seasoned or rather rain-soaked housemate and best friends with all our dogs. Unfortunately, after her joyful adoption day it started to rain and kept raining. A drama for both the dogs and for us because the weather gods dumped overflowing swimming pools with an unprecedented force, accompanied by strong winds, lightning, thunder and hailstones as big as eggs over Calypo. Luckily it had remained dry during Marianne and Co's stay, I kept thinking, imagine. Where would we have put all those galgo ladies during such "dog weather"... In any case, it had turned out well and the weather had been kind to us. The ladies who were still staying with us after their departure knew the difference between good and bad weather... Their daily routine had been turned upside down because, like all galgos, rain was not their thing. So, it was just a matter of looking outside to see if there was any more moisture and then quickly back to the full food bowls and the lounger in the warm veranda, to start playing was for later. The weather was nothing compared to what was in store for us. On Monday the 28th of April the power suddenly went out at 11:30h!! Everything was down. If we thought it would only last fifteen minutes, we were wrong. A few hours later everyone stood on the street not knowing what was happening because there was zero communication. No phone, no PC, no electricity and less and less water pressure. We waited anxiously but when the evening fell and it got dark, we still knew nothing and were still sitting with the dogs in the dark without news about the situation we were in. It is very confusing and scary to be cut off from the world. The only light we had was that of the lightning that sharply outlined the silhouette of the dark clouds in the sky.
Dirk went to the clinic to look for the “miners’ lamps” to put on our heads and to see where we were going and lit all the candles we had in the dark. In the meantime, he kept grumbling about what had happened and making assumptions. I was mainly thinking about the contents of the freezers and that while millions of people had been unwillingly and innocently exposed to war violence and had nothing left to worry about outside their lives and families. It took until 3:00h before all the lights and appliances suddenly came back on and as by magic Casa Belgica was bathed in light. We would soon not forget those long hours in the dark, unaware of what was going on. Hours in which the words cyber-attack and war haunted our minds more than once. The news from Belgium was also not rosy. Dirk B was ill and had stomach flu, Marianne was back at work and planned a weekend in Vienna with friends. We could not plan anything with our guests, even going shopping with difficulty. To make matters worse, Marie-Carmen in front of our gate also broke down with her old van when she wanted to put it in reverse. Not surprising when you saw the speed at which she was speeding through the deep puddles and holes full of mud to the shelter. Dirk called the village garage owner who came to repair the car and did not know when or if the “shelter express” could still be repaired. So, Dirk brought her home and then drove to the shelter with the jeep. Fortunately, in the following days she still had the elderly Opel that an old lady had once left us, and which was now more than 25 years old. At the thought that Marie-C would race to the shelter with the poor senior Opel I held my breath because after that the cars were finished. There was nothing left on 4 wheels that could take the old Opel’s place… On the 6th of May she came to us with the Opel bringing an old, sucked out and broken female dog that had been left behind by a galguero. It was the shelter or the killing station. It became Casa Belgica and after a phone call to Marianne, her forever and only home would be in Belgium, more specifically in Kain…
Sunday the 11th of May 2025
The weather has remained fickle over the past week, and we are currently still being hit with downpours and in between a glimpse of the sun that is quickly eclipsed by threatening, dark clouds, while in Belgium there is already talk of flooding. All complaints that fade into insignificance compared to what the victims of over-aged, unscrupulous despots, who are too big for their boots, must endure, I think. In the meantime, Marie-Carmen's van has still not been repaired, so on Thursday morning we were asked if Dirk could pick up 4 recently arrived, mutilated and starving victims of the past hunting season from the shelter and take them to the local vet to be castrated. When he got back, he told us that the poor creatures were injured and bone-thin everywhere and added what terrible wretches they were. In the afternoon he had to pick them up again from the vet and take them to the shelter. When he returned, he was even more impressed with the poor dogs' condition and repeated several times what great losers they were but spared me for the time being the details which he knew I would insist on knowing anyway.
Anyway, I could only feel deep pity for the poor guys and wonder when they would ever be offered for adoption on the site, if they would ever make it that far. I used to think of how many we had already saved and now I can only think of those we could not save. A heavy burden to bear is getting heavier and heavier. Especially now that the mentality among people has changed so much and there is little room for animal suffering and compassion. But I must move forward, we all must move forward together, even though that is sometimes difficult to explain to galgos that have been in the shelter for half their lives and are not being chosen and difficult to explain to all those know-it-all outsiders who think that our work means nothing. Anyway, now I must concentrate on the visit of Sabine and Nensie of the East/Flanders region who are coming to visit next week because I insist that all regional managers see what they are committed to. No doubt they will be astonished, just like those who came before them, when they are confronted with the harsh reality…
Tuesday the 20th of May 2025
Last week we were finally spared from fickle weather gods who made way for spring fairies who drove the temperature up to 35 degrees in the sun in recent days. It was an adjustment for everyone, especially for the dogs, even more so for the Borzois who could not take off their fur coats and sought cooling in the shade. In any case, the visit of regional managers Sabine and Nensie, who together with galgos Patty and Albus made the journey in the opposite direction that their galgos had once made with the GINB van, came closer. Because we were curious about how they experienced the journey with their "mobile home", they kept us informed of their "sightseeing" trip through France and Spain on the way to Casa Belgica, so we knew exactly when to expect them. Nevertheless, their arrival on Thursday the 22nd of May was one to never forget. Because when Dirk, under the watchful eye of Nensie, guided her friend Sabine into the sloping driveway of Casa Belgica to park as close as possible behind the van, it turned out that the gate could not be closed despite being as close as possible … So, Sabine had to reverse back up the slope. No easy task because every time she started, she was afraid of bumping into our van and pulled the handbrake hard, so hard that it eventually blocked and she could neither go backwards nor forwards!! There we were, to everyone’s dismay. Talk about an entrance, Dirk said and all this while our dogs were excited and howling with curiosity about the new guests. It was decided to contact Touring Assistance because the local garage owner was still taking a siësta and Marie-Carmen who had been contacted could not reach him etc …
Finally, I insisted on entering before the dogs went hysterically and we closed the gate only halfway to Dirk’s great heartache. After a few attempts Nensie had “Touring Assist” on the line and it was agreed that a local dealer would come and take a look asap. Silently I thought “asap” in Spanish but kept my thoughts to myself. To make the time bearable we started the “tour” of Casa Belgica. We started with the clinic and of course the guests then “stuck” with the galgos that were still “recovering” in the garden after Marianne’s passage and would continue that so-called recovery in Belgium because neither Dirk nor I could bring ourselves to send them back. While Sabine, Nensie and the galgo ladies were losing themselves in mutual caresses Dirk had disappeared. I could guess where. My suspicion was confirmed when fifteen minutes later he triumphantly shouted to the regional ladies that he had made their mobile home. Most likely, they heard our collective sigh of relief far beyond Casa Belgica. The good news was immediately translated into action. Dirk drove their mobile home outside, put the van on the street and drove their house on wheels back inside. Then patient Albus and Patti who had stoically endured everything calmly, could stretch their legs and get to know our exuberant gang who almost trampled them underfoot with enthusiasm. In the meantime, we sat down with our guests at the table for a well-deserved glass of bubbles to recover from the emotions and the happy ending of the difficult adventure (thanks to Dirk…).
The next day, Friday the 23rd of May, was also a day not to be forgotten because after a quiet night in the mobile home, a walk with the dogs, a pleasant breakfast and a "powerful" lunch in the afternoon, it was time for Sabine and Nensie for the long-awaited and long-desired visit to the shelter and its many inhabitants. They left around 15:00h and I knew that they would need a powerful lunch after their visit. Just like I knew that their world would never be the same again after visiting the hundreds and hundreds of innocent victims of unspeakable human cruelty and exploitation. Many had gone before them who had experienced it and could never forget it. Two hours later they were back, they were shocked by what they had seen and moved by the love they had experienced from all those forgiving galgos. A fact that mankind can take as an example. In the evening, after the Greek-style supper, their visit to the shelter was one of the recurring topics, that and the fact how the mentality of many people had changed towards the galgo suffering and animal suffering in general. As always, stories from the past were told with laughter because that also must have a place, even if it was to recharge and gain fresh energy. God knew that we needed that to persevere. If it depends on the many followers of the Spanish "galgo hunting culture", and the galgueros, we will have to persevere for a long time because then masses of galgos will have to be saved. So…
After a short night, the last joint breakfast, preparing their mobile home, hours of cuddling with the dogs in the back and a last lunch, our visitors left for France on Saturday the 24th of May after many thanks and with much food for thought. It was good that they had seen it. Next month, the regional managers of Brabant, East Flanders and Kempen will be next. But first, the upcoming adoption day and the “Pajottenwalk”. In the meantime, dogs are being given up because of all sorts of things, divorces, pregnancies, etc. All flags are good to cover the load except the truth. The holiday period is in sight, isn’t it…
