For thousands of years, a breed of white, woolly dog played an important and cultural role for Coast Salish people in Western Canada but when colonists moved in the animal quickly became extinct, a new study says.
It started with a dog named Mutton that died in 1859. Its pelt had been in a collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
DNA analysis on the pelt, coupled with traditional knowledge from the Coast Salish people, provided new insights on the dog once bred for its unique woolly coat.
The study in the journal Science, released Thursday, says the dog was believed
