I love where this subject has gone! The domestication of the Aurochs into plough cattle and the Horse as a mount were among the two most significant developments in early civilization. And the domestication of the dog was the most important interspecies alliance of all, right at the root of modern humans. Dogs made us human. They domesticated us, and then set us down the path.
Alright, I'm sorry, I don't want to get controversial, but this is crap. Cats are the essential domesticated animal, the Ur-protectors of civilization. Can't have civilization without cities, can't have cities without granaries, garbage and, when you get down the tech tree a bit, ceremonial burial. And then what do you need? Cats. Cats still, to this day, present their owners with killed vermin honoring the original contract which was the salvage of humanity. Without Cats we would have nothing, destroyed by disease and a depleted seed bank.
