(Afghan Hound Database and Breed Information Exchange)
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IMPORT INTO AUSTRALIA FEAR OF POSSIBLE MENACE (from "The Post's" Representative Sydney, Australia, April 17, 1935 |
which we were then able to transcribe to the following notes. Steve)
The importation by a Sydney man of an Afghan hound, said to be the first of its kind to reach Australia, has caused alarm among certain pastoriists and other who think that, like the Alsatian, it might become a menace to sheep and cattle. The hound was procured from a native owner in the hills of Afghanistan. The species is claimed to be the oldest type of domesticated dog in the world.
The president of the Institute Of Stock Inspectors (Mr. C.J. Woollet), at the annual conference of the institute, said that the Afghan hound was acclaimed as a hunting dog, courageous and powerful enough to pull a leopard. That was not pleasant knowledge. He feared the spread, over sheep and cattle country, of new breeds of hunting dogs. The advent of the Alsatian dog had disturbed the rural mind sufficiently without the trouble extending. Districts that first championed the Alsatian dog had changed their views, and hardly was the Act authorizing the local banishment of the breed proclaimed when they asked to be included under its operation.
Mr. James McDougall, importer of the Afghan hound, sprang quickly to its defence. He said that the Afghan hound found kindred sympathies in such dogs as the Borzoi, the Irish Wolfhound, the Saluki, the Greyhound and the Deerhound, but to say that the Afghan hound could kill a leopard was to say that the Borzoi, or Irish Wolfhound would kill a wolf. The essential difference between an Afghan hound and an Alsatian was that the Afghan hound was a hound with the true protective instinct of the canine, whereas the Alsatian had the marauding impulse of the Wolf from which many claimed it descended..
"The Afghan hound is not a fighting dog" said Mr. McDougall. "It is purely a hunting dog in the same category as the Greyhound. It is gentle, docile and companionable. In the official handbook of the Kennel Club of England, the Afghan hound is described as faithful, affectionate, a wonderful companion to children, and a wonderful house dog." That is more than the same authority claims for the Irish Wolfhound or the Greyhound. A high valuation is placed on the Afghan hound living in the mountain huts with the hill shepherds, for its attitude to domestic creatures like sheep and goats. The true valuation of the Afghan hound, of which there are thousands in England and on the Continent, is that it has never been known to kill a domestic animal or harm a child. The Afghan is only a greyhound gloriously feathered with fine silky hair, although it is smaller..
The Post, Sydney, Australia 1935
Ed Note; June 2011
Mr. James McDougall is presumably the spouse of Mrs. Olive McDougall who imported a fawn bitch (Farkhoonda El Kabul ) in whelp to Lehki Marwal (sire of an English Champion) and then the following year a black masked gold dog Dharma Reja of Geufron and a a grey-blue bitch Morita arrived also in whelp. See below link for Jim Hickie's (Gengala) breed history on Australia. Steve