Here we are!
We are very happy to announce the official birth of the charitable association Pet Levrieri (Onlus), borne of the initiative of 20 founder members. The charity’s President is Stefania Traini, and the Board of Directors is made up of Maria Grazia Luparia, Gaudenzia Martinengo, Davide Ghiringhelli and Davide Nadalini.The charity promotes, among other aims, the care of the environment and of nature, and an appropriate relationship between man and animals, particularly in relation to sighthounds used for racing and hunting, i.e. greyhounds, lurchers and Spanish greyhounds or galgos.
The specific aim of the charity is to provide assistance to these dogs, promoting their rehabilitation and psychological and physical wellbeing through adoption as well. The charity promotes the defence of sighthounds also by campaigning against situations of ill treatment of these animals, and by sharing coherent and truthful information about their situation.
As specified in our mission statement, we believe that the first duty of a European association wishing to help these dogs must be to report and oppose those who exploit and kill them, that is the greyhound racing industry and the galgueros, and we believe that this means helping and supporting organisations who oppose, coherently and by independent means, those who exploit them in Ireland, Spain and Great Britain.
We believe that these dogs make wonderful pets and that this should be emphasized. They are not just ‘sofa dogs’, but also life companions on every level. For us, this means supporting their wellbeing even when they are in their new homes, organising activities aimed at improving the relationship between the sighthounds and their families, and helping them integrate fully into family life and into the new world they are coming to live in.
We believe that it is necessary to study and understand sighthounds from within an evolved and up to date vision of the relationship between man and dog, overcoming clichés and misconceptions. For these reasons, we believe that adoption is not an end unto itself, and has real value only when undertaken with awareness of the reasons behind the exploitation of these dogs, and the problems they may often have. Because of this, adopting families must be expertly and carefully followed both before and above all after adoption, and this means providing services and continuous support to adopting families, with the help of experienced and knowledgeable experts.
To appreciate sighthounds as pets also means to share, promote, and value all therapeutic experiences that demonstrate how these dogs are able to help in excellent ways people in difficult situations. Rescued sighthounds are excellent “therapists” when involved in pet therapy. There is also evidence of wonderful experiences with autistic and dislexic children that proves unequivocally how different these animals can be from the image of them put forth by those who exploit them.
Finally, Pet Levrieri aims to be an open, transparent and democratic organisation, which finances itself in a clear manner without bending its principles for the sake of business interests.