Lisa's campaign to save Spanish dogs from torture

Feb 3 2010 by Andrew Brown, Formby Times

A WOMAN is campaigning to stop thousands of Spanish hunting dogs from being slaughtered or abandoned.

Dog-lover Lisa Ingram, who used to work at Mary Bowler’s riding school in Formby, moved to Benalmadena, on the south coast of Spain, in search of a new life three years ago.

But while enjoying her time in her new country, she was horrified at the way many animals are mistreated.

Lisa, who grew up in Southport and attended Stanley High School, said: “Within a short time of being in my new country I met Charlotte, and her greyhound, ‘Ambo’. She introduced me to her world and what she passionately dedicates her life to - rescuing the Spanish galgos (greyhounds).

“Having had adorable greyhounds as pets in England I was horrified at what I learned.

“The galgo, blessed for his speed and agility, is used all over Spain for hunting hares and other animals, so from September when the hunting season begins until January, it is normal to see galgueros (hunters ) out in the mountains with their shotguns and their galgos - their ‘tools’.

“It is also common to see galgos, after the hunting season when the galgo is no longer useful to his hunter, to be abandoned, battered, starved, dehydrated, left to die and rot.

“Galgos are often seen of pure bones, abandoned, malnourished and petrified of humans, or taken to the mountains and hung from trees.

“There are 50,000 abandoned galgos in Spain, the numbers are growing day by day.”

From leaving school in 1997, Lisa went on to work with horses at Mary Bowlers Riding School in Formby and also at the Scarisbrick Hotel and Botanic Bistro in Southport. She then went on to work at a number of private equine yards.

Now she hopes to publicise the sad plight of the galgos, in the hope of gaining support from animal lovers worldwide - and shaming the hunters against mistreating their dogs.

But she is also taking positive action into rescuing galgos that need help - aside from taking in her own greyhound, ‘Hero’, a welcome addition to her other two dogs and one cat.