Page 102 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW - ISSUE 13

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Hunting the ostrich with dogs. Mertoutek

We will see the different ways in which dogs are used when we turn to the chapter on
special hunts. I will not fail to point out that if a dog has killed the game itself, it leaves the
game on the spot, as according to Muslim law, which the Tuareg follow, it could not be
slaughtered and is therefore considered illegal. Another custom, which has nothing to do

with religion but is an old Tuareg ritual, says that if a game has been caught and not killed
by the dogs, the meat cooking in the pot must never be stirred with a spoon but only with a
stick. Anything else would be a bad omen” (La Chasse p.45-48).

In summary, the range of game hunted with the dogs is wider than that of the North

African Sloughis. We consider the “true Arabian Slougui” that Lhote refers to as the North
African Sloughi, which is also called “Arabian” although it has nothing to do with the Arabs
(see Sloughi Review 7).

It is also noteworthy here that Lhote describes how humans and animals from the same
community are used to working together. We will look at this social component in more

detail below, with Kurt Kotrschal.

“Slouguis Touaregs”, Lhote, in La Chasse
p.96; this type occurs in Mauritania.