Page 70 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW Issue 15

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 7 0

Muska from Mr. Le Gras born 1897 in Oergla,
South Algeria, bred by Marabout Sidi
Mohammed Belkassem, died in January 1907 in
the Netherlands, the movable ears are folded
back

However, whether there was already mixing between the Saluki imports from the Levant
and North African Sloughis at that time remains uncertain. Schritts believe, that there is

no evidence of this.

At the very least, Xavier Przezdziedzki's idea in his book "Les Lévriers" that Sloughis and
Salukis are zoologically the same must be seen as an initial indication. After all, it also
reflects the attitude of the English, who at Crufts 1923 formulated all Middle Eastern
varieties of "gazelle hounds" as Salukis in their standard, the main thing being that they

were fast and hunted well.

Dr. Dominique de Caprona in her book "The Sloughi 1852 - 1952", describes the early years
of imported Salukis in the 1920s. The imports went to England, but also to France. Both
England and France were militarily active in the Levant at this time, France in Syria,

Lebanon, southern Anatolia and Iraq, England in Iran, in present-day Israel and on the
Arabian Peninsula, as well as in the Sinai.

At that time, the sighthounds of the Middle East were divided into Syrian and Persian
sighthounds. These sighthounds were imported to Europe around 70 years after the first
Sloughis had arrived in Europe. Syrian sighthounds were either short-haired or feathered,

Persian sighthounds were exclusively feathered (de Caprona).