A call to all MEPs for legal protection of the often abused European hunting dogs on June 19, 2025 (English)
Dear Member of the European Parliament, the explicit exclusion of private individuals or of an agriculturally registered status will in practice mean that many European hunting dogs will not receive legal protection in Europe. For small breeders (less than 4 bitches or 3 litters per year) the welfare requirements have been eroded. Mutilations of animals are permitted, which in practice means that hunters are allowed to cut off ears or tails with hunting knives without anaesthesia, non-sterile. And what if a leg is injured? These changes to the law that should mean the registration and welfare of dogs and cats in Europe were introduced by the Committee on Agriculture, but mean a carte blanche for the already existing abuse, dumping and killing of European hunting dogs.
It is now well known that entire generations of hunting dogs are brutally abused, abandoned and brutally killed every year in a subsidized hunting industry where hunters have no respect for the life of an animal. In Spain alone, at least 50,000 galgos are victims of dumping, mutilation and brutal killing every year, without a name. That there is a clear need for chipping and registration is evident from the fact that even more podencos than galgos are used in hunting, there is a terrible dumping and neglect of podencos and the figures are impossible to trace! No registration, no welfare requirements, no responsibility for the hunter!
Many European rescuers are joining forces to help the endless stream of abandoned, neglected and strategically malnourished hunting dogs with medical care, care and shelter, but the stream does not stop! The hunters continue to breed unregistered without medical care, without food for dogs, neglect and abuse and without any form of regulation on the massive dumping and slaughter of the hunting dogs. There is even an existing export of discarded unregistered galgos to the meat markets of China. European dogs slaughtered to be eaten! Where is their protection?!
Hunters too often claim that hunting dogs are not companion animals and therefore do not need the same protection as your beloved pet. They are too often considered farm animals. The rescue community has proven that hunting dogs are pets first and foremost, in need of your love and affection and care. Their hunting instincts do not make them any less of a pet. Their talents are what exploit them.
Our request to you, dear MEP, is to use your talent to protect these European hunting dogs by ensuring that there are no exceptions from the Agriculture Committee in the new law that hunters could abuse.
