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Family to welcome seventh saluki to pack

BY ADAM TESTA, THE SOUTHERN

Sunday, September 28, 2008 10:40 PM CDT

CARBONDALE - Kevin and Sara Roth have a special place in their hearts for a few salukis - six of them to be exact.

Next month Ruby, Durango, Tuesday, Marcia Ball, Clifford and Sultan will have to make room for one more family member. The Roths will be adding a seventh saluki to their family during Southern Illinois University Carbondale's homecoming celebration.

The new dog will be the fifth saluki the Roths have adopted through Saluki Tree of Life Alliance Inc., an organization dedicated to rescuing the dogs and providing them with a safe home.

"It's very heartwarming on our part when we get repeat adopter families that we know will care for the salukis," said Lori Doering, regional coordinator for STOLA.

But not just anyone can adopt a saluki. STOLA has a lengthy application and interview process before it will agree to place a dog in someone's home.

Potential adopters contact STOLA and receive a "pretty in-depth" application packet, which asks for information such as the number of children in the home, how many people live in the house, other pets and the amount of time the dog will be left alone, Doering said.

A regional coordinator will then contact the family to both interview them and answer any questions they may have, she said. The next step involves a home visit by a STOLA volunteer to check out the home and ensure certain requirements - such as fencing heights around the yard - are met.

"It can be a good long time," Doering said. "We may have had someone who completed an application a year ago, but they have to wait for a saluki that will fit in their home."

Personality becomes a major player in adding a new dog to the home, Kevin Roth said. With each dog he and Sara have added to their family, they need to ensure the new one will fit in with the others.

"The biggest thing was, 'Here's his personality. Is he going to get along with the others in your home?'" he said, referencing the application for adoption process. Sultan, the Roths' newest saluki, joined the family as a puppy, so monitoring personality was crucial.

Kevin and Sara Roth began the process of adding the soon-to-arrive saluki to their home in July. A "flurry of e-mails" was exchanged in August, and plans to move the new dog from its out-of-state foster home to Southern Illinois began, Sara said.

Uncontrollable circumstances prohibited the dog's anticipated September arrival, but now he'll have the opportunity to see several other Salukis during SIUC's homecoming celebration, Kevin Roth said.

"We liked the way (she) looked," Sara Roth said of the new dog. "She's got this gleam in her eyes."

adam.testa@thesouthern.com

351-5031