Rude Britannia

Somebody said that Britain, like its offspring America, is also wicked and will be abolished in some fashion. They went on saying that Britain the nation-state isn’t just wicked, so is the entire House of Windsor not helped by that a good number of family members are involved in infidelity/adultery in some manner. Mind you Princess Diana has actually been involved in affairs with other men herself, there was something like the Squidgygate controversy, because one of Diana’s lovers called her that and it was even recorded. It’s the whole sin finds you out thing all over again, where it seems even reports about Diana’s affairs are also inescapable to all but some of her fans. Though it’s been eclipsed by her own husband’s affair with the current Queen of Britain, but it doesn’t help when one of their own sons also did the same thing.

To the point where such embarassing actions are actually on-par with the entire family at hand, I remember somebody else on YouTube saying that her brother has a video recording of the prior Queen of Britain eating a person herself. On top of that she said that the Royal Family even invited a witch over to their place, despite the fact that the Queen or King of Britain is also the head of the Anglican Church. Well it was in the case of Queen Elizabeth as she’s dead for roughly three years now. One might wonder why some Nigerian Anglican churches decided to cut off ties to their British counterparts, clearly something is rotten in the state of the United Kingdom to paraphrase William Shakespeare. There’s something wrong with the House of Windsor, so it’s going to go down in flames.

Should further controversies come to this royal family, this might prompt others to find ways of abolishing the British monarchy for good. There has been calls to both Scottish and Welsh indepedence and to have Northern Ireland to reunite with the Republic of Ireland, thus snuffing out Britain in its current form. Further dismantling this would have Jamaica and other Anglophone Caribbean countries become republics themselves as well, Barbados has gone before them a few years ago. The one condition where these four countries would reunite in some fashion is to join Russia, if because all of Europe has backslided as to warrant getting captured by their enemy as comeuppance for their misdeed. World War Three is coming sooner than expected, so Britain might experience its own civil war when this happens.

Something like this happened before in WWI where the breakups of the Ottoman Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire led to new nation-states in their place, Britain could witness its own balkanisation at any point this year. Scotland might be the first country to secede, then come Wales and Northern Ireland in a way, before the latter formally reunites with the Republic of Ireland. When this happens, this is when their own local languages get popularised big time, but most especially Ireland. Mind you Irish is the native language of Ireland, and if Northern Ireland does reunite with the Republic of Ireland, that this is where the Irish language gets popularised significantly. Admittedly this is something that I prayed for and interceded for regarding Irish celebrities, if because it’s a shame why it declined in usage over time.

Or Scots, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh in the same way, that the balkanisation of Britain wouldn’t just hasten this process, but also reinvigorate the usage of these languages big time just the same. Maybe not immeditately though it could happen sooner than expected, but even then in an effort to unite these countries as one kingdom resulted in the marginalisation of these languages. Having the United Kingdom get dissolved at this point in time might result in the reinvigoration and popularisation of these languages, perhaps more significant in the future than at present. And then there are others calling for Britain to recognise its own role in slavery and to own it up to it big time, one particular example is Benedict Cumberbatch’s family being involved in this in the newly independent Barbados.

Let’s not forget that Massive Attack’s own Daddy G/Grant Marshall and the Prodigy’s Maxim Reality have family members there that if Benny C’s own ancestor impregnated either man’s own female ancestor that this would make for an awkward family reunion of sorts, eventually the Barbadian press will smack him up when Britain gets dissolved at the same time. Many African countries have already been independent of Britain for years, but when Britain does get dissolved that they’ll most likely expound on their national identities even more. It would be the norm for African schools to popularise and teach indigenous languages from then on, same goes for African media institutions and so on. Maybe not immediately, but this would further strengthen local cultures there, this would be no different with India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Countries that would most likely be heavily affected by the balkanisation of Britain outside of the Caribbean are New Zealand, Australia and Canada, all of them settler colonies of Britain. This might strengthen the need to decolonise these countries, since this is something the Caribbean countries have stridently sought for. This might lead to a strengthening of popularising local languages like Maori, Dyirbal and Cree, though Canada might not be lucky as it would get captured twice. First by America when it becomes a truly authoritarian country, then by Russia as comeuppance for its own sins and to spite America with. Both Australia and New Zealand would most likely end up as Chinese satellite states, the Lesser China to the Philippines joining Greater China for their own vices.

The European Union might either dissolve or merge with Russian’s own Commonwealth of Independent States, should Vladimir Putin and Russia in general ever bother capturing all the European Union countries and countries from the dissolved United Kingdom in a successive go. This has been repeatedly prophesised in Celestial’s blog that this may come to pass, resulting in the third incarnation of the Russian empire where it’s composed of not only the former Soviet Union republics and the European Soviet satellite states, but also the European Union members that were never part of the Soviet Union in some manner or another. This might prompt China to form its own version, one that’s halfway between the Soviet Union of yore and the European Union of now, involving all the East Asian countries this time.

But this is also a case of China getting back more than what it lost, since it used to influence much of East Asia to varying degrees depending on the country. Coupled with it having a rising Christian population that it’s on its way to getting compensated for the losses it faced, so Greater China will include China itself, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, a reunified Korea, the Philippines, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Brunei, Mongolia and Laos, possibly Bhutan even but it’s tentative. Lesser China will include nearly all the African countries (both North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa) and the Oceanian countries, essentially a new Eastern Bloc to counteract the third incarnation of the Russian Empire. Celestial even said that both China and Russia will become the new world hegemons from then on.

Doubling down on this would be that the new version of Commonwealth of Indepedent States (soon to be renamed to Commonwealth of Russian States or something) would include Russia itself, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova (though this is tentative as these two might unite as one), North Macedonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, possibly Turkey due to its European aspirations, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, maybe Iran, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Malta, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland (after it gets bombed), Monaco, Liechenstein, Vatican City, San Marino, Italy, Gilbraltar, Isle of Man, Guerneysey, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg, Albania, Bosnia (or what remains of it as it’s going to get dissolved), Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Krygyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Canada, America (for awhile before getting drowned or something), Montenegro, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Andorra and Kosovo.

Anyways the world as it is will change a lot towards Christmas this year, not just with Ghana and Nigeria becomnig newly industrialised countries very soon, but also Russia getting the rest of Europe in a successively short go or China towards the rest of East Asia for another matter, that we’ll be inching closer to WWIII anytime soon.

It’s gonna happen

Somebody else has a prophecy of America getting halved into two, albeit horizontally and with an incoming meteorite strike to boot (isn’t that a reference to something in Revelation where Mystery Babylon gets hit by a millstone?). Given that America has often been compared to Mystery Babylon, albeit not in polite company, maybe getting hit by an asteroid kind of lines up with that Biblical passage of Babylon II getting hit by a millstone. It’s even more shocking to think that this natural disaster’s much sooner than expected, one that might succeed in killing a lot more Americans than one realises. That other countries will do onto it what it did to others is a disturbing comeuppance, but one that others suspect that America may have been up to no good at all.

Always causing wars where there’s no need for those, destroying the lives of innocent bystanders. Ruining entire cultures even, though this is going to be controversial. As for South Korea, it should be noted that for the longest period of time, it was one and the same country as North Korea. They’re divided by ideology and politics, even when they’re actually one nation together. South Korea was created to contain the spread of socialism onto the rest of the Korean peninsula, to the extent that it could essentially be a US colony but not in polite company. There’s a book called ‘How To Hide An Empire’ which is about America keeping its colonial empire a secret or something, as to appear as a proper republic. When in reality it’s really anything but a republic, because it effectively and practically acts like an empire.

It has colonies in the Asia Pacific, colonies that were taken from other empires. South Korea should ought to be included because it was created to keep socialism from spreading throughout the Korean peninsula, otherwise the entire Korea itself would’ve ended up more like either Vietnam, China or Laos really. It’s really telling that America created South Vietnam to do the same thing, only it didn’t last for long and all of Vietnam became socialist instead. South Korea is practically so dependent on America for its ideological and economic existence that it should ought to be seen as an American colony just the same, but given the prophecies of it reuniting with North Korea, that its days as a US colony might be over this time around. Another Vietnam really and one that America may’ve dreaded the most.

America might even lose both South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines to China forever, but I feel if America is Mystery Babylon then China should be seen as a tool of indignation. Not just against the US but also the sins of its neighbours just the same, the Philippines and South Korea for falling into sin despite being Christian countries, Japan for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and so on. This leads to its own version of either the Soviet Union or the European Union, though in reality it would be in the middle in a way, thus forming Greater China together all in all. Taiwan would become another Hong Kong, whereas the Philippines becomes a near-facsimile of China as to undo much American influence here. Given China used to influence much of East Asia before, this is a sign that God’s giving it back greater than it did before.

Albeit where the African and Oceanian countries form a new Eastern Bloc, thus leading to a global east given there’s already a global west composed of both Europe and the Americas. The global east would involve both East Asia and much of Africa (north to south), as lead by China against America and eventually Russia over Mongolia. Countries like India, Iran and Turkey would be neutral superpowers at this point, not wanting to take sides between Russia and China. Even then this is a changed world where America’s been made irrelevant, redundant and be tossed aside altogether, to be gone forever and this is a word from the Lord. In the interval America will get physiogeographically destroyed, just as it’s on its way to witnessing more civil unrest in the months and years to come.

The things that make America a superpower will be revoked due to its sins, that ultimately these will be undone and its own allies like the Philippines will be made into near-facsimiles of its enemies. Canada will be no different from the Philippines, only replace China with Russia and whilst Canada may arguably not be a near-facsimile of Russia, it will be Russified over time the more it becomes either a colony or commonwealth or protectorate of Russia. But American influence will be further lost there when Canada does come under Russian occupation and jurisdiction in some way, where America will ultimately be forgotten in the future, or remembered as a footnote in everybody’s book.

Lands of the invaded

While this isn’t unique to Australia and New Zealand, some countries have lost many species to invasive plants and animals such as dogs in Brazil and Argentina for instance, it is a problem worth talking about. Sometimes they come with good intentions, however with unintended consequences. It’s like the thing with ferrets in New Zealand, they came to New Zealand with the intention of hunting down rabbits but they got out of hand and now get culled themselves. In fact, they’re even banned as pets save for a select few who own them at all.

Some like rabbits and foxes were sent there for the purpose of game hunting, which’s proof that hunting and conservation don’t always go hand in hand together. Rabbits are even considered Australia’s most damaging invasive species, affecting 300 plus species. If I’m not mistaken, Australia doesn’t have Easter Bunnies but rather Easter bilby as rabbits are seen as a serious invasive threat there. Some Australians had to release a virus to keep their numbers in check, though their numbers have rebounded since then. (Some New Zealanders have done or tried doing the same.)

When it comes to the nature of invasive species, they’re very adaptive often to the detriment of native species affected by them. There are attempts at controlling their numbers, but they’re sometimes met with opposition by animal rights movements. As what somebody else said, there’s no fun solution when it comes to invasive species.

On feral animals and predation

When it comes to some feral predators and their impact on the environment, there are cases where they can drive some species seriously endangered and others extinct. In the case with dogs, they caused 11 species to go extinct and when one of my former dogs hunted and ate frogs, my father said that they’re at risk of becoming extinct or something like that. It’s not speciesism if dogs and cats are invasive species, that’s calling a spade a spade when it comes to their impact on the environment. There are also other ways they invade the environment is through transmission of diseases such as dogs transmitting rabies and distemper to Ethiopian wolves.

(That’s why I think dogs are practically an invasive species in Africa: they’re not native to the continent, spread diseases to an endangered canid and prey on endangered species themselves.)

Consider this: if humans are murderers for hunting endangered species, wouldn’t the same thing be said of cats and dogs? If humans are guilty of genocide, then so are cats and dogs. You shame one but ignore or excuse the other two. Actually there have been some humane attempts at addressing cat and dog predation of wildlife, whether if it’s by keeping them indoors or feeding them right (as in one Chilean study). This also applies to other invasive mammals like ferrets and foxes, which are both invasive to New Zealand and Australia respectively and are guilty of murdering wild animals as humans do.

Then again, when it comes to the deliberate introduction of invasive animals it’s paved with good intentions. Ferrets were brought into New Zealand for pest control, but this got out of hand when they became vermin themselves hunting native birds wherever they went and reproduced. It’s likely the same with cats and dogs especially when they’re brought in for pest control and guarding where in some cases this worked to their advantage but in other cases they ended up hunting vulnerable species.

There’s a Chilean study stating that the owners whose dogs strayed said that they hunted native (Chilean) hares, but it does worsen matters when native wildlife are seen as vermin to some people when it comes to their livelihoods that they’re going to use cats and dogs against these animals they hate. Now here’s a better argument for speciesism, especially when it comes to endangered species being maligned by the public. Something like certain bats being maligned by people whereas dogs are considered beloved. These bats might have their numbers lowered, but the dog’s not in danger of becoming endangered and moreso for mongrels.

(If most dogs are mongrels, there’s still a lot of genetic diversity to be thankful for.)

The Ethiopian wolf’s something one should be worried about, not only is it the rarest canid but also the one with the greatest risk of inbreeding (this could’ve happened to the cheetah at one point). Dogs aren’t in danger of losing their numbers, mongrels especially have great genetic diversity and many reproduce a lot. Ethiopian wolves, however, risk being endangered by dogs whether through genetic dilution or transmission of diseases and pathogens as well as competing for the same prey.

If a dog hunts at will, there’s the risk that it can endanger species especially if their numbers get lowered that it’s a cause for alarm and fear when a dog does it at all though the same thing can be said of the cat.

An honest talk about invasive species

When it comes to invasive species, it’s not just that they’re non-native to the environment but also negatively impact the environment whether through predation, pushing species to extinction in general or spreading pathogens and diseases that scientists are currently trying to please some people through more humane means of pest control. They are already bending over to the whims of people who don’t want certain animals getting killed, whether if it’s keeping pets indoors (actually they should do the same to dogs as they negatively impact wildlife through hunting and general disturbance) or sterilising/neutering them.

There are practically two ways invasive species become this way, first are those who’re deliberately introduced sometimes for noble reasons like pest control where ferrets in New Zealand were brought in to kill rabbits before killing native wildlife themselves. Second are those that are accidentally introduced and wreck havoc on wildlife like with mice and rats for instance, especially whenever humans travel by boat or if they’re released by accident. When it comes to a country like Germany, that’s one of the European countries where raccoons and raccoon dogs were introduced however for their fur but once something got bombed that’s when their populations started exploding and when they wreck havoc on native German wildlife.

New Zealand’s another country where you have not one but three mustelids wrecking havoc on native wildlife, you have stoats, weasels and ferrets brought over there sometimes for pest control and they ended up becoming pests themselves. Ferrets were at some point raised for their fur but they quickly became major pests that not only kill native New Zealand wildlife but also spread diseases to cows. As for cats and dogs, they’re the most common invasive mammals to date where they’re noted to prey on wildlife and spread diseases to endangered species like the Ethiopian wolf. There’s even a growing body of work about the damage dogs do to wildlife, whether through predation, general disturbance or disease.

(Though I still wish people would keep dogs indoor to keep them from disturbing and hunting wildlife, however some people like some German hunters are aware of this to some extent.)

Not all nonnative species necessarily become invasive as with cows, sheep and horses but those that do render species severely endangered and compete with native wildlife. Feral goats are an invasive species for rendering some plants endangered, wrecking havoc on the ecosystem and there are attempts at culling or hunting them to keep them from spreading. Feral hogs not only destroy the ecosystem through their habit of rooting but also hunting native wildlife and that they emit a lot of carbon dioxide and methane. You already have people attempting to hunt these creatures, or cooking them as meat. There are people who try to turn some invasive species into food, the best they can do about it.

But the fact remains that some species do wreck havoc on wildlife through their interactions with them (general disturbance, hunting, rendering native plants extinct or endangered, sharing pathogens).

Types of invasive species

When it comes to invasive species, it’s practically any introduced species that has a negative impact on native wildlife and ecology. They could be the accidental variety such as rats (both brown and black) and mice as well as zebra mussels, but they could also be intentional as is the case with cats, dogs, foxes, ferrets and rabbits. If I’m not mistaken, when it comes to Australia foxes were brought in to be hunted down by people and in New Zealand ferrets were brought in to hunt down rabbits but both became invasive species themselves. The most successful invasive mammals are practically cats and dogs, which are both common companion animals and have hunted down some species to extinction or rendered at risk for extinction.

(My father had to install fences because one of my former dogs was killing frogs a lot to the point where he said that he’s making them extinct or something and said that he’s destructive.)

Of all the canids and caniforms in Africa, only the dog’s not native there and to give an idea of their negative impact on wildlife not only do they transmit rabies and distemper to Ethiopian wolves in Ethiopia but also prey on vervet monkeys in Uganda and Barbary macaques in Morocco. As an invasive species, not only did the domestic dog compete with the brown bear in North Africa but also spread more rapidly as much as the brown bear found itself extinct in the 19th century. That’s why the dog spread to throughout all of Africa but the brown bear went extinct in North Africa, if invasive species do outcompete with native wildlife this does have grim implications for conservationists trying to preserve any native species left.

This is also why the domestic cat spread throughout Eurasia and Africa, though at least one landrace’s native to Africa while its wild relatives declined in numbers and there’s a paper somewhere about cat predation of amphibians in Cameroon. As to why these two are the most successful invasive mammals has to do with their close association with humans, especially whenever humans travel and trade that’s when cats and dogs spread to Eurasia and Africa for better or worse. At other times, the elimination of native wildlife might even be deliberate especially when cats and dogs are used for pest control that’s when things get murky.

In the case with ferrets in New Zealand, their introduction was paved with good intentions when it comes to regulating rabbit populations. However, this got out of hand when they started preying on native wildlife (a good number of them are flightless birds) that you have ferrets getting banned as pets in 2002. They’re also an invasive species in Ireland, where a feral population has been established and noted to prey on native wildlife as well. As for raccoon dogs, they’re one of those invasive species that were introduced for fur but got out of hand when released (whether independently or by people) that they wreck havoc on native wildlife as well.

The only difference between them and cats, dogs and ferrets is that the latter three all have any real practical use and value for centuries (since all three of them are used for pest control such as rats) that they could easily be rehomed and given human owners but since raccoon dogs are only used for fur, culling feral populations is the only option around. Admittedly, culling’s very controversial among animal rights groups because that involves killing animals especially when they get out of control. As for the accidental invasive species, these are the rats and mice of the world.

They go with humans whenever they sail by boat (that’s the case for centuries) and wreck havoc on native wildlife, whether if it’s eating hatchlings or competing with native rodents and wildlife. That’s practically the same thing with zebra mussels and other accidental invasive species, especially when dogs accidentally open up opportunities for them to invade native wildlife. You have the category of intentional invasive species, especially when they’re brought in by trade and immigration when it comes to noble goals like pest control but become pests themselves as well as the accidental variety when humans go and move about.

Ferrets as an invasive species

Ferrets are mustelids that are used for hunting rabbits but in some countries (Ireland and New Zealand so far) they’ve turned into an invasive species there. That’s if or rather when they don’t have a lot of natural predators in these two islands that they proliferate and hunt native wildlife there. Ferrets were introduced in New Zealand sometime in the 1870s or something to hunt rabbits but became a pest there alongside stoats and weasels. If Australia’s war with foxes is any indication, any attempts at eradicating rabbits with a nonnative predator has the latter become an invasive species itself.

That’s true for Ireland where ferrets were introduced for a similar purpose but ended up proliferating in the wild and hunting down endangered species themselves. Now supposing if ferrets were introduced to say the Philippines and Nigeria, that’s going to cost millions and more than a billion naira and Philippine pesos spent on culling ferret populations. You might say that there are predators in Nigeria that might keep ferret populations in check, but since those animals are becoming highly endangered that ferrets would proliferate there and have the upper hand.

Same thing would happen if foxes were introduced to Nigeria and the Philippines. When it comes to an invasive species like ferrets, they ought not to be underestimated as they can wreck wildlife and make governments lose billions of money. New Zealand has already lost animals to ferrets, same thing in Ireland that I think people need to think twice about introducing ferrets there. Not to mention New Zealand has the largest population of ferret-polecat hybrids and banned their ownership or something which shows you how bad their ecological impact is.

If you want to own ferrets then that’s fine with me, but then again ferrets have caused ecological problems in New Zealand and Ireland such as predation that their governments are doing something about this and the fact that they don’t have a lot of natural predators there make it easy to proliferate there.

PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. XIV, July 1960 (Excerpt)

Early classifiers, being interested in description rather than in causes of variation in the
Polynesian dog, ignore the Forsters’ opi nions on
why Polynesian dogs acted differently from European dogs and what effects such external
factors as food, care, education, and climate had
on them. These opinions are first shots, broad
199
and random, at an important problem. Almost
75 years were to pass before the classifiers began
to take a dynamic view about the peculiarities
of the Polynesian dog.
J. R. Forster (1778 : 200-201, 372) writes
that the individuals in the animal kingdom in
the South Seas show less variety than those in
the plant kingdom:
Domestication, the great cause of degeneracy
in so many of our animals, in the first place, is
here confined to thr ee species; the hog, dog,
and cock; and secondly, it is in fact next to a
state of nature in these isles. . .. Th e dog being
here merely kept to be eaten, is not obliged to
undergo the slavery, to which the varieties of
that species are forced to submit in our polished
countries; he lies at his ease all the day long,
is fed at certain times, and nothing more is
required of him ; he is therefore not altered from
his state of nature in the least; is probably inferior in all the sensitive faculties to any wild
dog (which may perhaps be owing to his food ) ,
and certainly, in no degree, partak es of the
sagacity and qui ck percepti on of our refined
variety.
He also notes that the hogs and dogs “are
very prolific, thrive in the fine climate amazingly
well, and soon come to maturity. . . .”
George Forster (1777, I: 235, 243), after
remarking that “it is owing to the time we spend
on the education of dogs that they acquire those
eminent qualiti es which attach them so much
to us . . .,” suggests that the fish or vegetable
diet has altered canin e disposition to make Polynesian dogs stup id. Such education as they get,
he says, has “perhaps likewise grafted new instincts” that have led New Zealand dogs to eat
the dead of their own species and the remains
of their masters’ cannibal feasts.
Until 1922 when George M. Thomson incorporated it into his monograph on N ew Zealand plants and animals, the following description by Crozet was generally overlooked by classifiers outside of N ew Zealand. Of the dogs that
he saw in 1772 in N ew Zealand, Crozet (Roth,
1891: 76 ) writes:
Th ey have absolutely no other domestic animal
than the dog. The dogs are a SOrt of domesticated
fox, quite black or white, very low on the legs,
straight ears, thick tail, long body, full jaws but
more point ed than that of the fox, and uttering
FIG . 5. “Double canoes. Ti paerua.” Society Islands, probabl y during Captain Cook’s first voyage. A previously unpublished sketch in the British Museum .
!\. dog is siccing on the aft deck.
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Polynesian Dog-LuOMALA
the same cry; they do not bark like our dogs.
These animals are only fed on fish, and it appears that the savages only raise them for food.
Some were taken on board our vessels; but it
was impo ssible to domesticate them like our
dogs, they wer e always treacherous, and bit us
frequently. Th ey would have been dangerous
to keep where poultry was raised or had to be
protected; they would destroy them just like
true faxes.
The fourth primary describer of Polynesian
dogs during the eighteenth century is Lieut enant King. After Cook’s death King’s journal was
used to complete the official journal of the third
expedition. Although King saw living native
dogs in abundance before any known European
contact had occurred with the Hawaiian Islands,
which Cook’s third expedition discovered, his
account was little known to taxonomists. Witham citing his source, F. L. W alther in 1817
seems to be the first to use it. In Ki ng’s description written in March, 1779, the interest shown
in the causes of the peculiar behavi or of the
dogs perhaps reflects that of the Forsters. For
the first time an observer mentions the achondroplasic condition of the legs. Crozet app ears
to be the first to mention the long body. King
writes ( Cook, 1784, III : 118 ) :
The dogs are of the same species with those of
Otaheite, having shorr crooked legs, long backs,
and pricked ears. I did not observe any variety
in them, except in their skins; some having long
and rough hair, and others being quite smooth.
They are about the size of a common turnspit;
exceedingly sluggish in their nature, though
perhaps this may be more owing to the manner
in whi ch they are treated than to any natural
disposition in them . Th ey are, in gen eral, fed
and left to herd with the hogs; and I do not
recollect one instance in which a dog was made
a companion, in the manner we do in Europe.
Indeed, the custom of eating them is :10 insuperable bar to their admission int o society;
and, as there are neither beasts of prey in the
island, nor objects of chase, it is pro bable that
the social qualities of the dog, its fidelity, attachment, and sagacity, will remain unknown to
the nati ves. The number of dogs in these islands
did not appear to be nearly equal in proportion
to those in Otaheite. . . .
There are as many different descriptions of
turnspits as ther e are describers, because “turn –
201
spit” was the name for any dog in Europe or
the British Isles that was taught to run around
inside a treadmill wheel to work a roasting spit .
\’V’hether or not it was a distinctive breed, and
if so, of what kind and of what ancestry, makes
for an interesting argument . Some who consider
it a distinctive breed identify it as a descendant
of the shorr-legged pariah dog; others perhaps
think only of a line of descendants of some
capable and admired local turner of a roasti ng
spit, whose pups were sought as likely to be
equally teachable, capable, and ph ysically suitable. In general , a medium-sized, sturdy, teach –
able dog was used. Sometimes the turnspit is
described as having a long back, shorr legs,
straigh t or crooked , and fur that was shaggy and
sometimes spotte d. An early English reference
to mongrels that were trained to turn the spit
or to dance to drums and a lyre is dated 1570
(Davis, 1949 : 34) . Th e last was used in Wales
and Germany about 1870, according to VeseyFitzgera ld (1 948: 728- 729 ) , who shows a
sketch of a turnspit; when suitable dogs became scarce, a dog, which alternated with a companion, was paid about 6 d. a day at the most.

Dogs aren’t sheep, sheep aren’t dogs

While there are some people who suggest that dog domestication’s more like sheep domestication, that’s a bad comparison given that even if stray sheep do exist, it’s not really that common enough to be a recurring issue the way you have with stray dogs. Since I pointed out that why cats and dogs stray is due to far more complicated matters than just bad ownership and animals’ tendencies such as ecology encouraging this (compounds, farms and villages being the likeliest in the Old World) and some people can’t afford or easily access to what’s needed.

Especially if these are either unavailable, expensive or inaccessible. I suspect that’s very much the case in Russia where it’s got vast lands but Eastern Russia’s very sparsely populated (especially when facing America) and much of Russia’s population’s far more well concentrated to the West. That’s also the same for Aboriginals in Australia where much of it’s desert, thus making it harder for Aboriginal dog owners to go to vets because at other times the better ones are really distant.

I could either be wrong or biased. But I suspect that such animals like sheep, even if stray and feral populations do exist it’s not as common as with canines. Though ownership practises, ecological and economical factors are and can be to blame, it’s not hard to assume that the Coppingers were almost onto something about dogs. (I think Russian scientists have handsomely articulated what they attempt to do.)

I suspect that dogs are like goats in that though they can be/are domesticated, it’s not as extensively modified as with sheep hence why dogs are likelier to roam and go feral. Most dog breeds happened very recently and most dogs look (and to some extent, act) more like dingo dogs. Hence why the Coppingers, for all their faults, were onto something about dogs.

Not that feral sheep are any less blameless, they’re certainly a problem in New Zealand and Britain to some extent. But in most cases, you’re likelier to encounter stray/feral dogs than stray/feral sheep. Even in Europe where such reports take place in countrysides. Not that it’s underreported in Africa and Asia but it’s notable enough to be remarked in some studies. (Same for cats.)

British Colonies

Africa:

Nigeria

Ghana

Cameroon

Kenya

Tanzania

Gambia

Egypt

South Africa

Uganda

Botswana

Zambia

Zimbabwe

 

Asia:

Hong Kong (now part of China)

Malaysia

Singapore

 

Europe:

Ireland

Gibraltar (Spain)

Cyprus

 

Americas:

Guyana

Jamaica

Bahamas

Barbados

St Kitts

America

Canada

 

The Pacific:

New Zealand

Australia