Beginning in the nineteenth century, with the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks were no longer able to control the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe as firmly as they had before. During that period, many European scholars traveled to the Balkans, and for Western Europeans, the land had been mysteriously exotic since the Ottoman Empire occupied the Balkans, and it was difficult for them to enter these areas when the Ottoman Empire was strong.
Views of the Balkans
Sir Fraser, a famous British anthropologist, went to the Balkan Peninsula under the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century to investigate and travel, and recorded the customs and daily life of the locals. The Balkans were inhabited by peoples such as Greeks, Seviers and Albanians, and with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks also began to enter the Balkan Peninsula in large numbers and ruled the land for more than three centuries.
Due to the large number of ethnic groups in the Ottoman Empire at that time, when Sir Fraser was preparing to go to the Balkan Peninsula for an expedition, the British consul in charge of handling his visa introduced Sir Fraser to some taboos with the local residents to prevent conflicts due to different customs. Of these suggestions, the English consul said the most: "Never shoot an Albanian shepherd dog, unless you are ready to shoot its owner immediately, you will be killed by its owner." ”
Statue of Sir Fraser
In Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, there has always been a large number of stray dogs, and by the time Sir Fraser arrived in the Ottoman Empire, there were more than 150,000 stray dogs living in Istanbul. But stray dogs living in Istanbul rarely attack people, and because most of these stray dogs are small, locals are not afraid of these stray dogs.
However, in the Balkan Peninsula at that time, although there were not as many stray dogs as Istanbul, the inhabitants of the Balkan Peninsula were very fond of raising large sheepdogs. The reason why the British consul warned Sir Fraser not to shoot at the Albanian shepherds was because the Albanian sheep at that time were very fond of their own shepherds, and the Albanian shepherds loyally served their masters, and their owners would protect them with the proverbial "loyalty".
Saplaninakh Shepherd
The Shepherds often kept by Albanians were called The Yugoslav Shepherd or Saplaninakh Shepherd, which had a large body and was a favorite dog breed of herders in the Balkans. In addition to shepherding sheep, the Saprannak Shepherd is also a qualified guard dog, for example, in 1975, residents of the United States and Canada introduced the Sapranninak Shepherd in large quantities to deal with coyotes.
Purebred Saprannak Shepherds are now very rare, and like the Kagau dogs in Turkey, the Sapranninakh Shepherd is also considered a "national treasure" by the countries of the Balkans. In his memoirs, Sir Fraser recounts the story of his attack by the Saprannac Shepherd, who, while on his expedition to the city of Ohrid in North Macedonia, encountered two Sapranninak Shepherds on the outskirts of the city, and the two Sapranninak Shepherds immediately attacked the stranger.
Traditional costumes of albanians
Sir Fraser had been carrying a pistol with him to ensure his travel safety, but when the two Sapraninac Shepherds rushed to Sir Fraser, Sir Fraser remembered the British consul's warning ——— "Never shoot the Albanian shepherds."
Sir Fraser did not shoot, and he did not even dare to pull out his pistol to prevent the owners of the two shepherds from using force to protect his "companions". But in the end, fortunately, the owners of the two dogs stopped the barbarism of their sheepdogs in time, so that Sir Fraser was not too hurt, and the frightened Sir Fraser would still have palpitations every time he mentioned this matter.
Reference: A History of the Ottoman Empire