NitroX,

Wasn't it Baden Powell who said that a gentleman wouldn't take a pig with a gun but with cold steel? Pig sticking was banned in India in the 1950s, I think, though the poor substitute of tent pegging is still popular especially with the new popularity of riding and horseback sports in India.

Speaking of the dogs, I love my dog enough to have brought him with me to the US and I can understand how you feel, but after the initial problems with imported foxhounds, the British learned about Indian hounds like the Rajapalayam, the Kombai, the Chippiparai etc in the South and established rules for breding and later for showing them. It was something that allowed these breeds to survive in India instead of them dying out because of disinterest.

Further north in India, the Nawabs of Rampur bred the Rampur hound which is a mix of Indian sight hounds and western breeds and is a fantastic dog with the superior speed and endurance of the whippet and the hardiness of Indian breeds in surviving the extreme weather in Central India. So, in the end, everything worked out for the best, I guess...