Posted by JSF13 on 11/25/2005, 8:27 pm, in reply to "Re: That's funny?"
72.136.12.107

Interesting theory Mark,but according to Senor Curto,and I quote from his book,the Presa no longer existed at the end of the 2nd world war but in fact disappeared long before that. "In the Agreement of Betancuria (Fuerteventura) dated October 21, 1624, we read, "Dogs cause a great deal of damage to goats and sheep, whereby it is agreed that within eight days all but one dog per household will be killed, one dog being left for guarding the home. And this means hunting and Presa dogs." On August 16, 1630, it is agreed (Betancuria) that "in order to have a Presa dog one must make it known to the local authorities." And in January of 1645 a document written by the General Representative, Sebastian de Betancor (Betancuria) requested that the dogs on the island be killed because of the great damage they cause. It is agreed on Sunday 22 in a public announcement that "all neighbors, inhabitants and residents kill all their dogs, except one, which they are allowed to keep to guard their homes, but if it is a Presa dog or a cattle dog it must be tied up." Adrian El Luchador, a Canary Island wrestler, born in Fuerteventura, commented to me on one of my visits there to study the indigenous Perro de Ganado (recognized in 1996 by the Spanish Royal Central Canine Society as the Perro Majorero) that with the help of a number of friends, he was very successful in using a strong Perro de Ganado Majorero of his own to give hunt to various wild dogs who fed themselves basically off goat and sheep in an area known as Pozo Negro, an open area where volcanic lava predominated. According to Adrian, that dog was a pure breed, and it behaved as its ancestors had. But such dogs are no more, or are very few, and in any case, he did not know where any could be found. After several years of study and going over the matter again and again, I have reached the following conclusion. Presa dogs and Perros Majoreros on that island, as on the other islands, coexisted and bred amongst themselves throughout various centuries, from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. And sometime afterwards, we do not even know the approximate date (I personally think maybe at the end of the last century, beginning of this one), the Presa disappears, only traces of it remaining, no doubt in decline, basically due to negligence on the part of the herdsmen. Crossbreeding did the rest. The Perro de Ganado Majorero in Fuerteventura, or its sort, disappeared from the other islands just like the Presa did. I wish to say that if the old Presa Canario of Iberian stock disappeared as a breed, it has continued in the purest of the Perro de Ganado Majoreros to the present day. It is true that very few of these dogs are of significant pure breed, but they do exist. In fact, right now we are trying to recuperate the breed with part of this genetic material."