“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

On the day, Leena, our Galga, adopted through Magnificent Mutts, was no longer needed by her owner. She was to be hung from a tree as the tradition of the galgueros. On that day, evil was not going to win! A woman overheard what was about to happen and stepped in to end the animal abuse and save Leena’s life. The woman brought Leena to SOS Galgos in Barcelona, Spain, and that is where her journey to the US began. The woman in Spain most likely never thought about how that one single act of kindness would change the lives of so many people and in turn, save many more lives of Galgos.

The Spanish greyhound, or Galgo, is one of the most persecuted breeds, but very few people have ever heard of this rare dog breed. Galgos are used as Hunting Dogs to catch hares in the Spanish countryside. They spend their lives in damp, tiny, dirty holes or windowless shacks deprived of daylight, exercise, and affection. Between 50.000 and 100.000 Galgos are killed or abandoned every year after the hunting season when they no longer live up to their owners’ expectations. The breeders, the so-called galgueros, breed hoping to end up with the best hunting dog to compete and hunt the hare, but overbreeding leads to the “throwing out” of thousands and thousands of Galgos every year.

Leena became a part of our family on October 21, 2012, and she was an absolute blessing and angel to have in our family. After adopting Leena, we learned more about this dog breed and the life of the Hunting Dogs in Spain and knew we needed to do more about animal cruelty. On June 23, 2013, we started an Adoption group for Galgos called Love Hope Believe Galgo Adoption. We had never been to Spain, did not know anyone in Spain and could not speak Spanish but we were determined to help find these beautiful dogs their forever homes. We transported our first group of Galgos on July 15, 2013, as with any adoption group we needed to highlight our adoptable dogs with adoptable photos. This usually is an issue faced by most shelters and adoption groups – iPhone photos or blurry photos. In August 2014, I purchased my first camera and started to learn photography, so I could help our adoptable Galgos find their homes quicker. As I learned more about photography, I learned how a dog picture could tell a story that has no language barrier. During a trip to Spain to volunteer at a shelter in 2014, I took a photo of a Galgo who was recently dropped off at a perrera (dog pound) and she was very fearful. I captured a photo of her that made me feel the fear she was feeling and realized that I could possibly tell the story of The Hunting Dogs of Spain through Photography.

Since 2013 my wife and I have transported 140 dogs from Spain to find their forever homes here in the Chicagoland area. I have had the honor to photography many of the dogs in my studio that we have transported. These are my portraits of these beautiful expressive faces that have been rescued from Spain.

More info: Instagram

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