There is hardly any good news any more, so it was pleasing to hear of a crowdfunding campaign to raise money – £40,000 – for a bronze statue to honour Félicette, the first cat in space. Félicette survived her escapades – the only cat ever to do so – and returned to live in Paris in 1963 as a cause célèbre, nine lives still intact. Laika who? Inspired by this fearless feline, here are some animal peers also deserving of a monument.
Congo the chimp
Congo was one of the most prolific artists of the 1950s, producing 400 abstract expressionist works before the age of four. Pablo Picasso was reportedly a big fan and owned a Congo, and in 2005 three pieces by the chimp were included in a Bonhams auction (along with Warhols), selling for $26,000. Salvador Dali once said of a Congo painting: “The hand of the chimpanzee is quasi-human; the hand of Jackson Pollock is totally animal.” Sick burn.
Dolly and Shrek the sheep
Dolly was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. In a creepy sounding move, she was named after Dolly Parton because her DNA came from a mammary cell. I’d recommend placing Dolly on a plinth alongside Shrek, a merino sheep who escaped and was found in 2004, having been unsheared for six years. It’s thought he hid in caves to evade capture. Once rounded up, Shrek’s 60lb of wool was cut live on television. He raised $150,000 for charity and even met the New Zealand prime minister. What a baa-d ass.
Wheely Willy the chihuahua
Wheely Willy is the first of a long line of pets with disabilities who have found phenomenal success and been granted book deals and TV shows (see also: fellow doggos TurboRoo and Tuna Melt; Crisp P Bacon the piglet; Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub). Born in 1991, Willy was horribly abused as a young pup, leaving him with spinal injuries. He was fitted with one of the first wheelframes for dogs and became an international sensation: in Japan, members of the royal family got down on the floor to greet him. Sadly (and awkwardly), after a life of overcoming adversity, Willy died when his owner dropped him. He was 18.
Huberta the hippo
Huberta is “one of the most famous hippos in the history of South Africa”. One day in 1928 Huberta decided to go for a walk. An epic walk of 1,000 miles. She walked from the now KwaZulu-Natal province to East London – the East London in South Africa, that is – followed by curious journalists and adoring fans. The walk took three years, and 121 rivers were crossed. It was made illegal to hunt Huberta – until some numbskull did just that a month after she had settled.
