13th January 2017

​SALUKI BREED NOTES WEEKENDING 13TH JANUARY 2016 CONT
 
A happy 80th birthday to Dr John Hudson.  I have been told there was a celebration after the judging at LKA to commemorate this milestone.  Sorry we were not there to raise a glass.  
 
John has kindly forwarded some statistics regarding the status of Salukis at Championship Shows: “The average entry in Saluki classes at Championship Shows where CC’s are on offer has gone up! After a serious drop in 2014 from 63 in the previous year down to 53, and a further drop in 2015 down to 50, the number has risen to 54 in 2016. Even though this cannot be interpreted as some kind of recovery, it shows that Saluki numbers have reached a temporary plateau. Which is very encouraging.”  
 
After a long illness Denys Simpson passed away on New Years Eve.  His first love was Afghans where he started his career as a Championship Show judge.  With his first wife Olive he had his first Saluki from the Mumtaz kennel of Zola Rawson, which, unfortunately died in an auto accident.   His subsequent Salukis came from the Lusaki kennel.  Denys and Olive made up two champions.  They were Ch Lusaki Bey Bartalah and Ch Lusaki Tsar at Akbalkhan
 
In his personal life he was a teacher at Amanford and Swansea Technical Collage until his retirement.  Denys became a member of the Welsh Kennel Club in 1975 and later joined the committee and was appointed show manager in the early 1980s. Later he was appointed chairman in 2003, a position he held with great respect until his retirement from the committee in March ’14. In 20014 Denys married Gina Williams who was at his bedside to the very end.  Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.