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Taliban Giving Aristocratic Hounds a Bad Name
Thursday, October 25, 2001
By Denise Flaim / Newsday

Barb Bornstein, of the Afghan Hound Club of America, said she received a call from a Utah man who told her passersby had threatened to kill his dog if they saw it out in public again.

Stephani Norris has a sign in front of her home in the United States Midwest. It reads: "This home protected by Afghan security."

Norris is not a Taliban sympathizer. What she is - and has been for years - is a breeder of Afghan hounds, which are known for their aristocratic bearing, long flowing coat and prominent hip bones.

But the recent political climate has the resident of Zoar, Ohio, considering whether to take down her whimsical sign, which includes the hound's distinctive outline.

She is also more circumspect when asked where her dogs come from. "I just say Ohio."

Some of that, she said, was sarcasm. But also, "I just don't want to have to explain."

What's in a name? Plenty, Afghan-hound folks have learned over the past month or so. Norris has a friend with a number plate that read "AFGHANS". Her state's department of motor vehicles took it upon itself to send her a new one.
(More: The Sidney Morning Herald News Source)
2001 © Newsday.

Killing Afghan hounds because they’re Afghan hounds, harassing Afghan hound owners -- how much stupider can this get?
Dan