2007 ABIS Azawakh-Mission to Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso

As the threats to the continuity of the Azawakh in the Sahel mount, preservationist breeding outside Africa becomes increasingly important to the future of the race.  With this thought in mind the primary goal of the 2007 Azawakh-Mission to  the Sahel is the selection and acquisition of promising breeding stock: specimens to be imported for the purpose (through breeding) of expanding and thereby strengthening the Azawakh gene pool outside Africa.  

What makes this expedition special?

ABIS expeditions typically include both "Azawakh people" and other participants having no association with the Azawakh.  But the 2007 Azawakh-Mission will be unique in that it will be comprised of only Azawakh breeders, owners and enthusiasts;  people who feel particularly compelled to help achieve the goals of this special mission and who can actively participate in its preparation.  Also, the mission will be shorter in duration and therefore hopefully more feasible to some would-be participants: two weeks instead of the usual three.  As presently proposed the route of the expedition would lead from the Niger capital of Niamey to Anderamboukane and from there directly into the southwest part of the Azawakh Valley, then on to Menaka and Ansongo and into the Beli Region, and from there to Tera before returning to Niamey .

• click here and we will send you an application outlining the following: inclusion in the 2007 expedition, donation of funds towards this project, commitment to fostering a desert-bred puppy (pending exported to an EU country), and interest in acquiring a desert-bred puppy

Interested in being a future owner? 

Many Azawakh breeders already struggle to maintain breeding stock at a manageable number and adding more dogs is not always a practical option.  You can help by becoming an owner of a Sahelian bred Azawakh.  By keeping this Azawakh "intact" and available to breeders, you become a  vital member of an international Azawakh community, actively aiding in a mission to preserve a vanishing and irreplaceable race of dogs.

However, a decision to become a future owner is not one to be taken lightly.  Such a decision requires long term physical, emotional and financial commitments.  For example puppies cannot be brought out with only a general " hope" for future suitable placement; prospective clients must take part in the travel expenses of participants who are to import a puppy for them. 

Things You Shoud Know  

It is ABIS policy to select puppies younger than three months of age for importation.  Experience has shown that puppies born and raised in the desert and imported at an older age sometimes encounter serious difficulties adapting to closed spaces, leashes, etc.  Younger  puppies rarely if ever experience such difficulties.

No one can guarantee that the desired puppy can be found and actually acquired. Moreover there is no assurance that a puppy will ultimately develop into an adult specimen the client might have hoped for and anticipated.  Of course the quality/phenotype of the dam (and occasionally the sire) of the puppy/puppies and the general quality/phenotype of the dogs in the immediate area are taken into consideration and such observations are used as a tool for prediction (at best an imprecise method!). 

Future owners are taking on the responsibility for the life of an animal, a responsibility independent of any future, subjective value of the adult dog as a companion, as breeding stock or as a show dog.