The Avuvi - the unrecognized primitive

You may never have heard of them. But they have existed for thousands of years. Perhaps 
much longer.

Despised and feared in its natural environment

Avuvi. Of "avu" (pronounced /avou/), dog, and "-vi", diminutive suffix in the Gbé language 
group (Éwé, Mina, Aja, Fon, and others) of a region including the southeast of the Ghana, 
the south of the Togo and the south of Benin. It forms so much of the local landscape that 
precision is unnecessary: it is THE dog.

Neither completely domesticated nor truly wild, it lives outside the hamlets, towns, and 
villages, nourishing itself on the remains of human meals, hunting for its sustenance, and 
participating occasionally in hunts organized by the villagers. It is the pariah par 
excellence. 

The relations between man and Avuvi are complex. It is inconceivable for the majority of 
the natives to share their lives with a dog, as we do in the West with our pets. The 
Avuvis are feared, indeed hated; one of the reasons, the most evident, most logical, and 
most defensible, is the risk of bite and of communication of diseases that doubtlessly all 
roaming animals carry. Another lies in collective imagination of the local cultures that 
use the Avuvi in animistic rites. Nevertheless, it also occasionally assistants in hunts, 
recognizing its superior hunting skills. 

A companion unlike any other

If one sought a description of the Avuvi, one could lean on the standard of the Basenji. 
"Discovered" in central Africa approximately 70 years ago and transported to the West, it 
was selectively bred according to specific aesthetic criteria, favoring the exaggeration 
the wrinkles, the "turtleneck" collar markings, and the corkscrew tight tail. One obtained 
a "breed", but one sawed the genetic branch on which this breed was founded, as all of the 
other created and recognized breeds in west. A considerable proportion of the Avuvi 
population corresponds closely enough to this description, although averaging a few 
centimeters taller and with a slightly superior weight. However, variations of this 
profile include the degree of tail curl and the length of the coat. Moreover, a 
significant proportion of Avuvis have a slimmer silhouette, a more robust head, and the 
general appearance of speed and of power. Generally russet-red and white, it can also be 
black and white, tricolor, agouti, cream and white, or have "saddle" markings evoking an 
image of a German shepherd. 

The Avuvi demonstrates other original characteristics: it is devoid of "doggy" odor and 
washes itself in the manner of a cat. To communicate, it sings, yodels, mutters, or talks 
in various more or less noisy manners. It barks rarely, to alert against an intruder that 
threatens to penetrate a perimeter defined as belonging to it. Erected on its rear paws 
(where it can remain "standing" an astonishingly long time), raising its back crest, it is 
completely dissuasive! It is also able to howl, notably to signal his presence (in the 
manner of a wolf, to define its territory). This very strong territorial instinct, that 
dictates its more noisy demonstrations, can be bothersome for the human environment and it 
is assuredly a phenomenon to take in consideration if one plans to share his life with one 
or several Avuvis. The remainder of the time, if it was bonded sufficiently early to its 
human family, the Avuvi is the most charming of dogs, attached to its family, lively, 
funny, and most extraordinarily playful. It will gladly learn all that is necessary for it 
to become a pleasant companion, even if it remains very independent, does not often see 
the need sit or lie down on command and must be never be allowed to digress without leave. 
There remains within a hunter fearsome to behold which will "fly" as soon as it sees 
potential prey, becoming deaf to any command until it has exhausted the thrill of the 
chase. The call of the outside becomes systematically stronger and, even if there is some 
chance it will return to its own "den" after escaping (provided that it did not meet a car 
in the meantime or a hunter a little fast on the trigger), it is preferable not to offer 
the opportunity to it by providing a rather high and smooth fence that it cannot scale. 

Threat of extinction

The indigenous dog is threatened by extinction today. The reasons are numerous:

· Hunters are becoming more and more rare and the cooperation, even occasional, between 
man and dog suffers as a result. 20 years ago one often met, in periphery of the cities, 
hunters accompanied by 3 to 5 dogs. Today, those which the soft foods of a hypothetical 
participation in the consumer society did not divert of their traditional way of life are 
pushed back further and further into the rapidly disappearing wilderness.


· In the city, the dramatic gulf between rich and poor makes those that have the means to 
maintain a "useless mouth", prefer a dog that allows them to parade their success, such as 
a Western breed. Labradors, Rottweilers, German Shepherds and Dobermans abound and the 
veterinary offices often cross dogs of the more popular breeds. The less scrupulous do not 
hesitate to cross the more costly specimens not very well adapted to life in extreme 
conditions of temperature, humidity, and exposure to the various parasites, with local 
dogs. This forces them to abandon on the street the puppies that do not conform 
sufficiently to the desired appearance to be marketable. The local breed therefore runs 
the risk of uncontrolled and irreversible hybridization. 

· The poorest populations have so much difficulty surviving that the dogs which excavate 
the leavings of others often are considered as competitors - to eliminate - in this 
pathetic search for any sustenance that will allow them to survive another day. Finally, 
even if the dog is not considered as a food in the Gbé culture, it is assuredly in 
neighboring ethnic groups and the population movements of the crowded towns towards the 
coastal capitals bring more and more connoisseurs of this flesh into the proliferation 
zone of the Avuvi. The modification of the food practices induced by poverty and rural 
migration has been demonstrated - to the detriment of the local dogs - in other African 
regions. It is necessary to believe that in the coastal band of West Africa (in which are 
located all of the political or economical capitals of the concerned countries) the 
perception of the Avuvi as an intruder will become more and more supplanted by that of 
merchandise, even food.

The situation does not appear to be dramatic: one sees numbers of these dogs wandering in 
the streets of African cities and towns. But for how long can they withstand the 
spectacular changes of their habitat and the lifestyle of the surrounding humans? Will 
they be able to preserve their genetic originality? The described phenomena is 
accelerating at an impressive rate. It is therefore urgent to protect, starting now, this 
native canine population in all its variety. Once the authentic population is eliminated, 
is debased, it will be too late to undo what was done. 

How to proceed? Who must assume this responsibility? Kennel clubs are nonexistent in the 
territory of the Avuvi. The protective corporations of the animals are at best embryonic. 
The public services have strong motivation to contain the epidemics effecting the 
necessary farm-raised animals for human consumption on one hand, and support the 
development of natural reserves likely to preserve vestiges of the native flora and fauna 
and to bring money courtesy of foreign visitors on the other. Finally, there is only one 
veterinary school for all of French-speaking West Africa, in Dakar (Senegal). As one sees, 
the candidates for the preservation of the Avuvi on the continent are very rare. How could 
it be otherwise in countries where humans cannot be assured a decent life? 

There remains the West which, unencumbered with the immediate concerns of survival, can 
and must contribute to the safeguard and the conservation of this magnificent animal, 
largely free from all the hereditary diseases that one finds too often in the dogs known 
as "purebred", victims of their success and of a policy of over-selective reproduction, 
which fixed aesthetic characteristics at the same time as genetic problems much less 
desirable. It is time to adopt bit of humility, while taking care not to carry out any 
selection other than that of healthy subjects, by keeping consanguinity. Only a reasoned 
and coordinated action can avoid with the Avuvi the genetic problems of other canines 
promoted with the name of "primitive" and victimized by those who love them in an attempt 
"to save them". 

In the name of the biological diversity.