Reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s works has always been an enjoyable past-time for me. In one such novel named “The hound of Baskervilles”, we are introduced to a character ‘Dr. James Mortimer’ who has a pet spaniel. The illustration of the pet spaniel intrigued me. I recognized it to be an ‘English Water Spaniel’.

On digging a little deeper, the even more interesting fact came to light. The ‘English Water Spaniel’ had long been extinct by the early 20^th century. The fact that the current dog breeds which we pet, have replaced some of the older dog breeds (in terms of evolution) has since been itching my curiosity. How many more dogs can we never get to pet again? The answer lies in the following paragraphs.

Let’s start with the ‘The English Water Spaniel’.

It was very popular in hunting waterfowl and for being able to dive like a duck. It resembles a cross between a Poodle and a Springer Spaniel or a Collie with curly fur and typically in a white and liver/tan pattern. It pre-dates the Irish Water Spaniel and has found place in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Breeds like Field Spaniel, Curly Coated Retrieve rand American Water Spaniel are said to have been genetically influenced by the English Water Spaniel.

‘The English White Terrier’.

This breed was invented in the early 1860s by a few breeders who were anxious to see a new breed from a prick-eared version of the small-white-working-terriers. This lead to the development of the Rat terrier, the Sealyham terrier, the Fox terrier, the Boston Terrier and the Jack Russell terrier.

The English white terrier breed lived for about 30 years before vanishing from this world. The ‘Bull Terrier’ is considered to be the descendent of the English White Terrier-and-English Bulldog cross. The growing unpopularity among the public due to the dog’s genetic problems lead to the unfortunate declaration the English white terrier as a mere ‘distinction without a difference’ by the Kennel Club Hierarchy.

A small note on the Kennel Club before we move onto the next breed.

It aims at preserving and protecting the dog breeds of British and Irish origin. In 2003, they started the compilation of the ‘Vulnerable Breed List’. Terrier Group has found the largest number of dogs in this list. The most drastic decline in popularity of a dog breed is seen in case of the Sealyham terrier. Alfred Hitchcock, a Hollywood director, was fond of Sealyham terrier. Approximately 1084 Sealyhams registered at the time of the registration of his first Sealyham terrier in 1938. But the annual registration amounts to a meagre average of 60 dogs.

Next comes the ‘The Otter-hound’.

It was a heart-throb for centuries when they were kept in packs at the time of Henry VIII. The British ban on otter hunting was the death sentence to this breed.

A worldwide census of Otter-hounds indicated the existence of fewer than a thousand dogs. According to the interpretation of ‘The British and Irish a Dog Breeds Preservation Trust’, the census count had made the Otter-hound “twice as rare as the Giant Panda”.

 ‘The Toy Trawler Spaniel’.

‘The Toy Trawler Spaniel’ resembled the ‘King Charles’ Spaniel’ of the 16th century. It is considered to be a descendent of the original ‘King Charles’ Spaniel’, and an older variety of ‘Sussex spaniel’.

Originally used as a sporting dog, it later became popular as a toy dog and show-dog. It was  considered extinct by early 1920’s.

‘The Paisley Terrier’

It was an extinct terrier breed from Paisley, Great Britain. Being the progenitor of today’s Yorkshire terrier, the Paisley Terrier was bred primarily as a pet and a show-dog version of the Skye terrier. It was also called the ‘Clydesdale Terrier’, named after another breeding location in the Clyde Valley.

‘The Moscow Water Dog’

The Moscow Water Dog was produced only by a state operated organization called ‘the Red Star Kennel’ which aimed at providing working dogs for the armed services.

It is also known as the Moscow Retriever, Moscow Diver, or Moskovsky Vodolaz, is a not-so-popular dog breed. This extinct dog breed is a descendent of the East European Shepherd, Newfoundland and Caucasian Ovcharka (Caucasian Shepherd).

‘The Pembroke Corgi’

Although not extinct, but this famous dog breed is one the verge of extinction. Being Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite dog, Corgis have lived with the Royal family ever since George VI saw “Dookie” and brought her home. She was entitled ‘the matriarch of the canine dynasty’ which resides in the Buckingham palace ever since. Interestingly, the Queen has been a proud owner of more than 30 Corgis excluding the current ones “Willow” and “Holly”.

We are bound to expect that the affinity of Queen towards ‘the Pembroke Corgi’ would guarantee the popularity of Corgis. Yet it is noteworthy that being a part of the royal family does not suffice to assure the sustainability of a dog breed. The Pembroke Corgi is now on the ‘vulnerability list’ of the British Kennel Club due to a scanty 241 registrations in the year 2013.

‘The Sealyham Terrier’

Similar to the case of Corgis, the Sealyham terrier was a very famous breed whose popularity dropped drastically over time. Alfred Hitchcock, a Hollywood movie director was very fond of them.

In 1938, when Alfred had brought home his first Sealyham terrier, there were about 1084 registrations per year, but now, the registrations average to about 60 dogs a year.

We pet parents often overlook the fact that dog breeds come and go as trends and needs change. Along with the above mentioned dogs, the Spanish pointer, the Long-haired Greyhound, the Turnspit dog and the European water spaniel, are all extinct. Some of the ‘vulnerable’ breeds wait at ‘the point of no return’ and may never give us an opportunity to pet them again.

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Cats have always been associated with spirituality and the supernatural. In some places they may be considered to bring bad luck. But mostly, they are revered all around the world. It is a common misconception that only the ancient Egyptians worshiped cats. The truth is that there are many cultures in different places, that give the cat the position of a deity. These are some of them
1. Egyptian Mythology
The goddess having a human body and the head of a cat, Bastet was the protector of the people. Initially, she was depicted as having the head of a lion because she was supposedly fierce. But later on as her role softened, she got the head of a cat. She was the keeper of hearth and home, protector of women’s secrets, guardian against evil spirits and disease, and the goddess of cats. In her temple, cats received great importance. The Greek historian, Herodotus, described her temple as one to please the eyes. Mau, also a god of cats, was her male counterpart.

2. Norse Mythology
The goddess Freyja was the deity of love, fertility, war, wealth, divination and magic. She would ride around in a chariot that was driven by two giant grey cats. Farmers would leave offerings for the cats so that they would be blessed with a good harvest.

3. Chinese Mythology
Li Shou was a goddess who was depicted in the form of a cat. She was worshipped by farmers because they wanted her to protect the crops from being eaten by rats and mice. She warded off evil spirits at night. Other beliefs in China mention that the gods had appointed cats to supervise their creation. Apparently, they were even granted the gift of speech but since they did not make use of it, this gift was then given to the humans. Even today, it is believed in China that one can tell the time by looking into a cat’s eye.

4. Polish Mythology
Ovinnik was a spirit of barns. He took the form of a black cat with fiery eyes and with the bark of a dog. He protected barns from danger if their owners would offer gifts to him. However, if they forgot to appreciate him then he would burn down their barns. He was worshipped by many farming families because he watched over domestic animals and chased away evil-natured ghosts and mischievous fairies.

5. Siamese Mythology
It was believed that when Siamese kings passed away, their spirits would go into Siamese cats so that they could be present at the coronation of the new king. These cats would be a part of the royal family and would be treated royally. Another belief is that the Korat breed of cat is responsible for rain. Thus the farmers would involve these cats in their rituals to pray for rainfall.

6. Japanese Mythology

The Beckoning Cat or Maneki Neko, is worshipped in Japan. The story of this cat is as follows – Long ago, this cat stood in the door of the Gotoku-ji temple and raised her paw in the traditional Japanese beckoning gesture to an Emperor or a Feudal Lord who was passing by. Intrigued by this, the man went inside the temple, towards the cat. Moments later, a bolt of lightning struck the spot where he had been standing previously. Thus the cat saved his life and was accorded great honors. Since then, the maneki neko is considered to be the goddess of mercy. She is the protector of homes and also brings success in business.

7. Persian Mythology
In Islam, cats are revered and are regarded as ritually clean. Ancient Persians believed that cats were created magically. Apparently, the great Persian hero, Rustum, once saved a magician from a band of thieves. As a token of his gratitude, the magician created a cat and gifted it to Rustum. It is also believed that the Prophet Muhammed loved cats. Legend says that the ‘M’ design on the forehead of a cat was formed when the prophet blessed his cat by keeping his hand on its forehead. In another story, the prophet wanted to go to pray but he did not want to disturb his cat, Meuzza, which was sleeping on his arm. Therefore he cut his sleeve from his garment and let the cat sleep. The prophet also condemned the killing of cats.

8. Others

In parts of Europe, a cat decorated with ribbons was released in the field after harvest-time to appease the gods. The Peruvian fertility god Ai Apaec could assume the form of a tomcat. The Roman goddess Diana sometimes wore the form of a cat. Aradia is the goddess of cats and is often considered as the Italian counterpart of Bast. Ceridwen, the Welsh goddess of wisdom was attended by white cats that carried out her orders on Earth. Greek mythology tells of how the goddess Hecate assumed the form of a cat in order to escape the monster Typhon. Afterwards, she extended special treatment to all cats. Christians, too, are kind towards cats because of the legend that says that a cat protected baby Jesus while he was being chased by rodents and snakes. Thus Mother Mary blessed the cat and kept her hand on its forehead, which is why it has the design of ‘M’.

There are these and many more legends of cats. But this post would not be enough to mention all of them. In most of the cases, cats started to be worshipped because they would rid the people’s houses of rodents. Even now they are of great help to us. Doesn’t this make you think highly of your cat?

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