I did adopt my gago.  It's the best thing i have done.  The human and canine bond would be much stronger if you adopt one...for sure!

Just to add something about the reality of the costs- adopting fee alone is around 600 francs plus there are many other misc. fees I read about online:

180 CHF yearly tax
100 CHF first food 12 kg bag
40 CHF leash and collar and medal (medal not obligatory but reccommended if dog gets lost etc)
80 CHF vet exam + anis
170 CHF theory class
160 CHF puppy class

Thanks, Andrea,  for your comments which are really important to consider. It requires a commitment of time, energy and money. I did adopt my dog in Swiss ( it was about CHF450).  Since I live in France, there is no tax, theory class or puppy class; however, the cost of vet could mount quite high depending on the health of your dog.  PLUS, dogsitting is also quite expensive.....  just like having another child in your home.

Cats can be adopted too - mine was.It's great because

a)you give an animal a new home

b) you can miss out on the chaotic,constantly-having-to-be-watched kitten stage and

c) your cat may well be already house-trained

It's a shame to go looking for pedigree or purposely bred animals when there are plenty languishing in animal refuges  who would make great pets/ companions.

Thanks Yoshi for having adopted a Galgo this most special and beautiful dog! have adopted two last year, something that I have not regretted! Andrea, yes costs are high but not higher than any other hobby. I get so much love back from them that outweighs their costs by far! Adopting and having a dog in France is of course cheaper but you can always reduce the costs of having a dog in Switzerland by adopting and going to a vet in France. Dogsiting in neighboring France is available from 15 Euros a day. 

Some shameless self-promotion here- If you ever need a dogsitter I also dogsit! Well, I dogsit for 1 lady currently and I asked her for 10 francs a day, so that's the charge I'm sticking to. I'm spending my time studying French so I have a lot of free time to play with the dogs.

Wow, that is cheap! Where are you located or willing to dogsit?

I'm in Geneva (Chambesy)

Maris, true that the vet in Ferney Voltaire I bring my dog is really good and less expensive than the ones in Geneva.  A couple of friends who live in Geneva take their dogs to the same vet in FV.  Dr. Celine Pommeret speaks English in case ...

Andrea, it's great to know that you are available for dogsitting.  You have your own dog as well, I assume. Pls. send me yor contact info via PM if you would like.

Hi Yoshi, the associate of your vet in Ferney is Luc Mignot through whom I have adopted my Galgos. He is president of the coeur-de-galgo.com association which seeks to find families for adopting Galgos (and other dogs) from Spain. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misconception and resistance in adopting Galgos. Whenever I walk mine, I get a lot of reactions and most of the people think that they are beautiful and friendly dogs. But then they go online and they see all those comments that you can never let them off a leash...mine are off, are great with my kids and simply the best dogs I ever had! Where did you get yours from? By the way you are. A very talented photographer, the pictures of yours are really beautiful!

Hi Maris,  I know Luc Mignot has his association but i found out only after I got my dog from Levriers.ch in Lausanne.  Yes, the galgos are extreemly gentle and calm at home yet they are full of energy when they are outside.  I simply fell in love with their aesthetic form, especially when they run.  Yes, they are beautiful dogs;however, they are born as hunting dogs and they run after anything that catches their attention.  They are usually frientdly with domestic animals - other dogs, cats, horses, cows, pigs, frogs..etc..  But they could easily go after wild animals. I was once walking him in the forest off leash (should never do this with galgos or greyhounds), he saw a couple of sangliers and run after them.  No time to stop.  We do have to be careful when walking off leash.  They have to be trained to stop on command...like any other dogs, i believe.  Thank you for your kind words on the photos.