Barney, a symbol
It’s not easy to select a dog to symbolise the work of a whole year, because all our dogs have a meaningful story of their own, and an often difficult past, and their safety has been the result of a tough rescue process.
But I believe that Barney’s story is representative, because it involves many aspects of our work and our mission.
His life has been a succession of bad luck and misfortune, which luckily and by pure chance ended well. Bred in Ireland and owned by a person involved in the construction of the Limerick racetrack, where the headquarters of the IGB are situated, he was moved to Northern Ireland, sold to a somewhat unsavoury Spaniard, saved by the Spanish rescue Scooby and then adopted in Italy by us.
This last year, in which the sad fate of many Irish greyhounds sent on a one way ticket to places with no escape like Macao and elsewhere has become known, Barney is proof that the fate of greyhounds and that of galgos criss cross each other and become blurred in a place called Spain. Barney is proof that there is a path that leads from Ireland and its auctions to Spain, a place where being a sighthound is generally a death sentence without appeal.
So Barney symbolises the total lack of sensitivity, compassion and respect demonstrated by Irish trainers and the IGB, as well as the exploitation of sighthounds in Spain.
But Barney was lucky enough to meet some people along the way who did everything they could to save this lad with his gentle gaze: the rescue Scooby and its director Fermin in the first instance, and secondly ourselves at Pet Levrieri.
And once he was safe he didn’t just have a comfy sofa, but he also became an ambassador for the cause of greyhounds, because people spoke about him in Ireland, the US and the UK. Because only a few are saved while many die, and stories like Barney’s can stir peoples’ consciences.
By Massimo Greco
Translated by Isobel Deeley
Tags: adotta un levriero, adotta un levriero, adozione greyhound, adozione greyhound, adozione levrieri, adozione levrieri, antiracing, antiracing, Barney, galgo, galgo, greyhound, greyhound, greyhound racing, greyhound racing, IGB, IGB, Ireland, Macao, Macau, Scooby Medina, Scooby Medina, Spagna, Spagna
