WATCH the moment that packs of Spanish hunting dogs crammed into cages and trailers howl and bark, pleading for help.
A random stop on a rural backroad on a chilly early Saturday in winter, had Olive Press Editor Jon Clarke quickly reaching for his camera.
After parking up to investigate what looked, at first, like a car boot sale, he noticed that all the vehicles – mostly white vans – had dozens of dogs either in them or being pulled in trailers behind.
These evocative images, recorded in northern Cordoba province, clearly show the cruelty of Spanish hunting dogs at work.
As hundreds of demonstrators prepare for a series of protests against the practice in the UK next week, it’s clear these dogs are not being treated as pets.
Crammed into various vehicles, the animals are seen to be distressed as they aim to attract attention by making noise.
The Spanish hunting season runs from October until February and sees tens of thousands of dogs – largely podencos and galgos – used to drive prey, including wild boar, deer and rabbits towards the hunters.
The dogs usually spend their working lives ‘on short chains without shelter from extreme weather or crammed into dark sheds,’ insists protest organisers at charity Hope for Podencos, which rescues and rehomes them.
They also participate in controversial sports like hare coursing, where they are let loose in the countryside or an enclosed track to catch a fleeing hare.
Worst of all, each year after the hunting season draws to a close, up to 100,000 dogs are allegedly abandoned or killed with it being ‘cheaper to get rid of them and breed or buy new ones next season’, adds the UK charity.
Incredibly, in 2023 Spain’s Parliament excluded these hounds from the nation’s new animal welfare legislation meaning that they are legally unprotected.
Click here to read more Cordoba News from The Olive Press.
