Hunting - Dogs

The Spanish term “rehela” refers to a pack or group of hunting dogs whose number varies from 14 to 24. Spain is the only European country to allow hunting with dogs (in England fox hunting has been banned since 2004), therefore this hunting method is known as “Spanish style hunt” (montería a la española). There is even a Spanish Association of Pack Hunting (Asociación Española de Rehalas). The “rehalas” are a key tool for hunters and most of these dogs are kept in questionable conditions, often in cages with a lack of regular veterinary attention, in some cases none at all and in others, very little. The dogs only come out of their cages to train or to hunt, and in order to do this they have to be transported in small trailers, in conditions which also cause hunters a lot of controversy as they are the cause of complaints and inspections.

During a hunt animals may get injured and sometimes these injuries mean such high veterinary costs that their owners prefer to put the dogs down, occasionally using cruel archaic methods. Alternatively, they may just abandon the dog to their own fate in the wild.

In Catalonia

• We are part of the coalition La veritat de la cacera that aims to identify and regulate the risks represented by hunting activity.
• We lobby the public administration about anything regarding hunting.
• We negotiate and meet with the competent authorities to propose alternatives the current land management methods.
• We look into the experiences of other countries and propose ethical alternatives to population management.
• We collaborate with other institutions to promote the application of ethical hunting measures.
• We are working towards changing the law which establishes the means of control of recreational hunting.
• We publish articles and reports on hunting and its many consequences.
• We offer advice to those Catalan town councils which approach us.
• We participate in awareness campaigns against hunting.

• Get informed through La veritat de la cacera of the real implications of hunting for people, animals and the environment.
• Help us by sharing the information and publicity we put out with your contacts on social media.
• Write to your mayor or your town council, letting them know how you feel about hunts being held in the local area.
• If you have been the victim of any kind of accident caused either directly or indirectly by hunting, report it to the authorities.
• If you work for a town council in Catalonia and you need information in order to get ethical population management projects up and running, get in touch with us.