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OUR MISSION
Portuguese Podengos are sighthounds that are used for hunting. They are descendants of semi-wild prairie dogs originating from Egypt. They were brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Phoenician traders around 800-900 BC. Once part of the nobility and highly cherished, podengos have become one of the most abused breeds in the world.
Bring Portuguese Podengos to Light's goals are to:
1. Let people know about the plight of Portuguese Podengos.
2. Show how beautiful and wonderful these dogs are and how much they deserve to be respected and well treated.
2. Rescue, Rehabilitate and Rehome Podengos.
3. Establish a specialized Podengo Center in Portugal.
4. To honor those that dedicate their lives to rescue and bring these dogs back to life.
Brought to light
Brought to the freedom of light
Brought to the amazement of light
Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, Portuguese Poet - In Geografia, 1967
Luz (Light), rescued in the Azores in 2020
“The tragedy of this wonderful breed is that they are excellent hunters. The same tragedy that made them end up in the wrong hands.”
Elisabete Esteves, Castro D'Aire, Portugal
Shacks and cages hunters use to keep podengos in Portugal.
“Hunters have up to 100 dogs each. If the dog has “hunting” skills, they keep them. All others are immediately shot or abandoned if they are lucky enough to drift away and escape.”
Siegfried Albert Kraus, Founder and Chairman of the shelter Cantinho dos Animais de Beja
Abandoned podengos, S. Miguel, Azores
“My podengos are like humans, but only with kindness in their hearts”
Elisabete Esteves, Castro D'Aire, Portugal
Amora, Nina, Alfie and Leona at Elisabete's home.
"Podengos would be discarded quickly, mothers and babies first. I ran and grabbed a little pregnant podenga. At that moment I got on my knees in front of the Municipal Vet and begged him not to kill her."
Maria Cabral, S. Miguel, Azores
Batalha, Fenix, Flecha and Aurea survived because of Maria.
"A true example of what is a tragedy of immense proportions lives here in the Azores"
Hunter's shacks where podengos live in the most miserable conditions in S. Miguel, Azores
"These Podengos need good food to help bring them up to normal weight, they need to be sterilised, they need warm blankets for their beds - something they would never have had before."
Kieran Alexander, Associacao Azores Dog Rescue.
Pico with Kieran in S. Miguel, Azores
"Fenix - a thousand stars glowed in her eyes"
Maria Cabral, S. Miguel, Azores