Page 44 - The Sloughi Review - Issue 7
P. 44
T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 4 4
We have seen that the "Saluki/Slughi" is an In English, the language of the standard
Oriental sighthound in various forms, which keeping country, we see "Middle East" as
includes very different types and which countries of Egypt, Bahrain, Cyprus, Iran,
traditionally can produce mixed litters - Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon,
feathered/short-haired - even with the Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey,
Bedouins. These characteristics were United Arab Emirates and Yemen. But this
written into the breed standard in 1923 collection is not satisfying, especially
when the "Saluki or Gazelle Hound Club" since they do not define conclusively the
was founded. countries of origin of Saluki.
However, one must not overlook the fact The criticism of this term "Middle East"
that the Salukis also have different regional on the Wikipedia page states that it adds
types! Even if Elizabeth Dawsari writes that to the confusion about the changing
when two smooth Salukis from the Arabian definitions. This term was first used by
Peninsula are mated, there might be hounds the American government in 1957 in the
with feathering in the litter. The bottom line Eisenhower Doctrine and has not since
is that there is always a type that is led to a clear definition or designation of
recognizable [23]! Therefore, these states or areas. Therefore, the use in the
(western) drawers should be opened with FCI Standard No. 269 of November 29,
some caution, but there is also the opposite 2000 is not useful for the Saluki breed
view that you can simply mix everything and, on the contrary, allows assignments
together which is not productive in the end. of sighthounds that are historically not
detectable in the different Saluki types.
If we look at the areas of origin of the term
"Middle East" specified in the FCI standard As we have seen in the description of the
for the Saluki, this is anything but clear. In way of breeding by the nomads of
German, the "Middle East" means Iran, Sloughis in North Africa (in portrait
Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, "Heinz-Gerd and Gisela Bergmann"[24]),
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. That is useless for they proceed in the same way as the
our purposes. Bedouins on the Arabian Peninsula, which
Elizabeth Dawsari so succinctly
described.
