Hunting dog horrors exposed

A PROTEST was held in Alicante on Sunday, July 16, to highlight the plight of the treatment of Spanish hunting dogs. To coincide with this, a report on the terrible conditions these dogs are kept in was published.

AnimaNaturalis and CAS International uncovered the crudeness of hunting with dogs in Spain, at the moment when the PSOE announced that it is not a priority to draw up specific legislation for dogs used in hunting, as regional regulations already exist.

In September, the PSOE promised to publish this regulation to justify its exclusion from the recently passed animal welfare law.

The research comes from 11 locations in various provinces of Spain, which were all documented between 2021 and 2023. The images show badly injured dogs, game animals dying, hunters stitching their dogs’ wounds without veterinary supervision, and even the use of illegal drugs.

The Affinity Foundation points to hunting as the second cause of abandonment in the country, and estimates about 22,000 dogs were discarded in 2021 by hunters, 13 per cent of the total.

At hunting kennels, dogs can fulfill different functions that primarily pursue three purposes: finding the game, forcing it to move towards fences and being able to confront them and immobilise them. Some of the most used breeds are the podencos, the griffon and the bloodhound for their sense of smell and speed.

In the case of hunting kennels, owners can house more than 50 dogs in kennels, either separated from each other by cages, or in large warehouses. They remain chained to the floor or wall at all times.

When a wild boar hurts a dog, it is said among hunters it has ‘punctured’ it. AnimaNaturalis have witnessed some dogs wearing protective vests pierced by the tusks of wild boars. Some had deep wounds. In general, most of the dogs