Such killing is sometimes carried out by extremely inhumane methods including hanging and is often accompanied by mutilation including   branding and other forms of physical injury.   Many galgos are simply abandoned, having been neglected, or have obviously been mutilated to disguise their identity. The welfare groups in Spain, which are             signatories to this petition, have ample recent evidence that these     barbaric practices continue unabated.   Concerned people in Spain       estimate that over 50,000 galgos are killed or abandoned each year. As a measure of the size of this problem, we would inform you that Greyhounds in Need alone spends some Euros 130,000 each year on its work in Spain and in rehoming elsewhere, dealing with only a small      fraction of the galgos abandoned.  To this must be added the              considerable sums expended by the many rehoming groups in the UK   and other European countries, and the Spanish refuges who help export     galgos. We call on the Government of Spain, during its term of office in the Presidency of the European Union, to enact and enforce humanitarian legislation to protect the galgos of Spain from such barbaric treatment.   This would help bring Spain to its rightful position alongside other    European nations in according proper standards of protection to its    animal population.  It would also free foreign charities from the burden of coping with the results of this lack of protection. This plea is supported by many Spanish citizens and organizations, who fervently wish to see their great nation giving proper respect and        humanity to these suffering creatures. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The Treaties that form the European Community do not currently cover animal welfare so European-wide legislation is not possible and only the Spanish government can legislate to end the barbaric treatment of greyhounds in Spain.     7