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| Name: |
Baltasar
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Age: |
Four and a half years old
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| Gender: |
Male |
Breed: |
Galgo
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| Home: |
Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Baltasar,
what an unusual name for a dog, right? Let me tell you the history
behind his name.
Just before Christmas 2013 three black galgos found themselves in a bad
situation. You see they were just 'dumped' by their owner, a galguero - a
hunter in Spain, because they were not needed anymore. Whether they were not
good enough for the hunter we will never know. But he had to get rid of them,
so he handed them over to be destroyed. These three were lucky, in a way,
because much more horrific things are done to the galgos to dispose of them.
These three had a chance to live, they had a chance to be adopted. But wait -
all three were black, all three were males which takes them to the bottom of
the list for adoption as black male dogs of any breed are usually adopted
last. So they were given the names of Kings to make them more appealing-
Gaspar, Melchoir and Baltasar- the names of the three Wise Men. They were
scheduled to be destroyed the day after Christmas. Their only hope was that
an adoption group would pull them out of the kill shelter and put them up for adoption.
Luckily for Baltasar this is what happened to him. A rescue group,
BaasGalgo
pulled him out of the killing station after SAGE
(Save a Galgo Espanol based in the USA) agreed to take him into their adoption group.
Once he was in the USA, he was put in a foster home where he flourished. His
foster mom described him as follows: He is about four years old, completely
cat safe, very sweet and affectionate, calm and well mannered, seems to be
having no issues whatsoever with the house-training, gets along my greyhounds
and smaller mixed breed, and is just a really lovable laid back guy. How do
you not fall in love with this handsome face?
I showed this description to my husband, along with a picture of this lovely
black Galgo which the founder of SAGE, Petra, who is also a professional
photographer, had taken. He then proceeded to tell me how our then Pet
Therapy Greyhound, Master was getting older and we should be looking for a
new Pet Therapy dog and would Baltasar maybe fit the bill? I contacted SAGE,
explained the situation and after a day or two it was decided that we could
adopt Baltasar. My husband flew to JFK airport in New York, where he met
Baltasar for the first time. They flew back home the next day.
Because of this significant background behind his name we decided to keep his
name as Baltasar!
Baltasar spent the summer getting used to his new family and his
surroundings. We found out that he loves sunshine and hates rain! I guess
that makes sense coming from Spain. He really is a lovely dog, calm and
quiet, except for the two minutes or so per day that he just has to get his
energy out! Then he races around like a hound possessed! It is actually cute
when he does this. Baltasar loves to be scratched gently behind his ears. He
loves squeaky toys and with him around the squeakers do not last a long time.
Recently Baltasar was tested to become a Pet Therapy dog with PALS, and he
passed this test. He did very well at his first visit and will hopefully
continue to make a hospital stay a bit easier for many children in the years
ahead. The one with the PALS scarf, and the two with the blue collar are our
pictures, the rest are Petra's, so they are Copyright ©Petra Postma.
We are so happy to have Baltasar as a part of our family!
Here is a video
from when he was first rescued in Spain, you can see how thin he was then, poor guy!
(The dogs in the background get quite loud, so you may want to tune the sound down before you hit play!)
See more images of Baltasar!
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