PRESERVING A PRICELESS RESOURCE

As a breed created from necessity, designed by purpose, and safeguarded by many, the Saluki for generations served as hunter, prized possession, and companion. The discovery of Salukis by Europeans in the late nineteenth and early 20th centuries gave Salukis a new purpose, of a prize winning exhibition animal.

Similar to only a few other breeds, such as Basenjis and Siberian Huskies, Salukis still exist in their countries of origin, where they continue to perform the jobs for which they have been bred for millennia. Unfortunately, this valuable genetic resource has been available to only a few extremely ambitious American breeders. Those with access to litters from countries governed by FCI regulations can obtain Country of Origin bloodlines legitimated by the desired three generations recorded with an acceptable registry.

In the early 1970's, Mrs. Eugenia Kissinger moved to Virginia with her two Salukis obtained in the Middle East, where she worked for the US Foreign Service. She also worked briefly in Brazil, and had registered these dogs with the FCI, for the purpose of competition and also to record their existence. Her years in the Middle East included a relationship with Mrs. Dorothy Lees, an Englishwoman and also a Saluki breeder, that would continue for decades.

Mrs. Kissinger queried the American Kennel Club about the possibility of her lovely Salukis being accepted, and received a negative reply. She proceeded to obtain American Salukis, and to incorporate into these registered bloodlines Salukis from Mrs. Lees. Due to the regulations of the Kennel Club at that time, the pedigrees of these Salukis contained relatives to Mrs. Kissinger’s first Middle Eastern Salukis.

In this fashion she was able to breed Salukis related to her own dogs, but the fact of not being able to use her exact dogs rankled. She soon found she was not the only owner in the same predicament. Being trained in record keeping and having a government employee’s understanding of the value of good paperwork, she set about locating and recording those Salukis which had come over from the Middle East with their military and/or private industry families, and not known to the public eye.

She decided, if the eventual goal was a record of as many Salukis of every possible type and quality, simply recording the existence of these dogs wouldn’t suffice, and created a system based on evaluations of those points which set a Saluki apart from other breeds. In this fashion, the records reflected a more complete picture of the Salukis in question.

Each file included photographs of the individual Salukis, and Mrs. Kissinger maintained these records with the same thoroughness marking her Foreign Service work. The first critique recording these Salukis was held October 1976, in Alexandria, Virginia, and the first Saluki assigned a recording number was her own beloved Shihan. Critiques followed in an ever-increasing number, with the first West Coast Critique held in 1983. First generations were followed by second and then third generations; these files recorded whole breeding programs.

Eventually, the owners felt a need for an organization to help maintain contact. In 1988, the Society for the Perpetuation of the Desert Bred Saluki was formed through the efforts of the most fervent supporters of Desert Bred Salukis. The first project was a notebook listing all Salukis critiqued at that time, to bring the members up to date on the situation; a quarterly newsletter continued the critical function of communication. Through the efforts of members, Salukis listed in the Society Registry compete in ASFA lure coursing trials and NOFCA open field events.

Mrs. Kissinger’s illness in 1995 caused her to turn over the records, and she now serves as an advisor and inspiration for the international membership. The advent of the Internet and the ever growing possibilities of data bases made it possible to upgrade the records; that project is ongoing. She tries to tell people the Society is comprised of the efforts of many, which is true. But only through her unstinting efforts for the Saluki do we have the opportunity to preserve this irreplaceable resource.

Since 1990, the Saluki Club of America has held an exhibition of Desert Bred and Desert Descent Salukis at the National Specialty in Lexington, Kentucky. This exhibition starts the Friday evening activities, and is an increasingly popular event. The timing, during a world class wine and cheese party, might have something to do with the popularity of this event but we’ve found people forget everything else when faced with a ring full of living history.

For more information, check out the updated SCOA web page at www.saluki.org. Kudos to the efforts of the Internet committee, headed by Susan Schroeder.

Monica Henderson Stoner
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