An Ecodog in His Own Right

From it I learned about Mutton, the protagonist of the exploratory comic I later drafted, here below... These sketches are merely an incomplete brainstorm, and not intended to tell a fuller story, which is really not mine to tell anyway, at least not in an independent manner. 

 

Apparently I wasn't alone in being forever changed by the Hakai Magazine article from February 2021. Since then, I've been heartened to see the interdisciplinary and inclusive collaborations, like this paper in the journal Science and this forthcoming book, which have emerged from the interest that Morell's writing and Veregge's illustration sparked, alongside other research and much earlier oral histories.

 

In case you're wondering, I did indeed adopt my fluffy white pup (Theo, in this baby pic and with me in the Blue Mountains), as a result of encountering Mutton's story and legacy (in short, he looks how these woolly dogs were once described). To me, woolly dogs are a type of ecodog. From the perspective of a time, our time, when waters the world over are swirling with microplastics (much of which come from fast fashion and all the laundry that entails), what could be more "eco" than procuring fiber from your animal friend?