The righteousness of the semi-tamed carnivore owners. “Don’t mind that he’s put his muddy paws all over your white skirt. He’s just been friendly. He’s a big softie he is.”

I’d like to let a semi-tamed polecat up your trousers Mr W and when you complain, tell you Mr Burrows is a sweetie, you know, and be all offended when you don’t react benignly to his overtures.

Try that with my dogs and I’ll respond with a number of sharp kicks and punches. Just a friendly warning.

I always knew you and your feline overlords had impeccable taste.

Hence why we went to such lengths to keep the dog out of the way. I think our actions made him, a contrary sort, all the more curious to investigate the visitor.

You can solemnly inform a dog about all the various edicts, hadiths and observations by the pious regarding his dirty nature and spiritual uncleanliness, but it will carry on regardless, eating random clods of dried grass and gravel, licking pavements and sniffing other dogs’ bottoms. My father’s dog, a very well behaved Labrador bitch, attended my mother’s funeral. Halfway through, she decided that it was the perfect time to clean her fairy in the only way she knew how.

My cats, however, appreciate the respect Mohammed had for them. One of them has decided that the only place she can sleep is on my husband’s very expensive memory foam pillow, now at the end of the bed for her exclusive use.

I would think that a cat-astrophe.

That’s an unnecessarily insulting thing to say about the Kurds.

Paganism began dying in the late Roman Empire when the State adopted Christianity and started legislating against paganism – cf. Theodosian Code.

You could have something similar happen if the Govt. decided to ban pictures of dogs because it could offend someone.

Next time anyone in public service wants to use a dog in a photo, they will remember this and probably NOT use the dog.

And of course once everyone is being careful about showing pictures of dogs then it is easy to think there is something wrong with dogs and pet ownership.

That’s how a culture dies.

That how paganism would have begun dying in the late Roman Empire as it simply became unrespectable to believe in a multiplicity of gods.