A CHARITY that finds new homes for abandoned Spanish greyhounds has made a plea for anyone in France to come forward and adopt.

According to L’Europe des Lévriers, more than 100,000 galgos are killed by their owners once the Spanish hunting season finishes at the start of February.

Charity president Beatrice Monnet said: “A Spanish hunter will not keep a dog during the summer months when there is no hunting, so he disposes of it. The majority are abandoned to wander loose, searching for food. They are dumped at the municipal dog pounds or euthanised.”

According to the group, Spanish families are reluctant to adopt them because they are not regarded as pets.

L’Europe des Lévriers says it has saved more than 600 of them in the past three years and found homes for them with families in France.

Its next rescue is planned for the first week of February, when it will be bringing a dozen or so galgos to France.

“We have a serious problem,” says Ms Monnet. “We are receiving fewer applications to adopt our dogs. We need foster homes and adopting homes to enable us to continue to save them.”

To find out more, see www.adopter-levrier.com or call 06 17 75 47 21.