As is the case on Earth, there are many domestic dogs (non-anthro) that are kept as pets on Vulpes.  Anthro Vulpines however can keep wild canines (mainly foxes) as pets since anthro and non-anthro Vulpines can understand each other***.  As for humans wanting to adopt non-anthro foxes as pets, although Vulpine foxes do have a tiny amount for human DNA (less than .1%) they don't have enough to understand humans very well.  In addition to that, non-anthro Vulpine foxes are just like foxes on Earth and don't often get along too well if brought in a home as a pet.  However, this didn't stop some humans from trying to bring non-anthro foxes into their homes.  In a few rare instances, the human(s) and fox got along relatively well.  But in most cases, it didn't work out (in some cases ending in violence)*.  However, since many humans thought that foxes looked cuter and more cuddly than most of the domestic canines, Vulpine Genetic Engineers decided to try to create a breed of fox that was more human-friendly.

 

In the beginning, the scientists determined that in order to create a human-friendly breed of fox they would need to combine fox DNA, human DNA, and the DNA of a domestic canine (collies were chosen because they were considered friendly and cuddly by most humans).  Once they had samples of the DNA, they used a DNA replicator to create enough of each DNA sample to use without harming any living creature.  For the next five years, the scientists tried time and time again to find a way to combine the DNA samples to create a new species of fox.  For the first couple of years, they couldn't get the DNA structures to align just right and every artificial egg cell they made self-destructed before it could be put in the artificial womb.  Then, once they finally started to have some success in getting the artificial egg to act like a real developing egg cell, they had problems with the environmental conditions inside the artificial womb, resulting in several miscarriages.  Despite dozens of failures, the genetic engineers didn't give up and continued to try and make a new breed of fox.  Then, finally after five years of hard and difficult work, everything aligned just right and after spending two months in the artificial womb, the first collared vixen was "born".  The result was far beyond what the scientists had hoped.  Not only were these new foxes friendly towards humans and very cute overall, they were also highly intelligent and could easily understand what humans could say.  After the first successful test, the scientists created more collared foxes and got their collared vixen to cross-breed with normal foxes and collies (they are fertile towards both wild and domestic canines).  Gradually, the scientists perfected the process and added tiny amounts of rabbit or wolf DNA in some egg cells to create collared foxes of various sizes.  Later on, a handful of the non-anthro collared foxes took on enough human characteristics to become anthro collared foxes that were receptive to all Vulpines as well as humans.  Now, there are approximately 5,000 anthro collared foxes, and about 5,000,000 non-anthro collared foxes living on Vulpes.

 

 

Collar: The collar around a collared fox's neck contains a scent that is designed to be pleasing towards humans.  This is not their sex scent, their sex scent is produced by their main scent gland in their tail and can only be detected by potential mates (for non-anthro collared foxes that means other non-anthro canines).

 

Teeth: Unlike other canines, Collared foxes do not have long and sharp canine teeth, instead they have teeth that are similar to humans.  However, like all canines, Collared foxes can bite hard if they want or need to.

 

Mammary Glands: Collared Vixens produce milk upon reaching sexual maturity (unlike most females who only produce milk after giving birth).  In addition, Collared vixen milk is considered safe for human consumption and is actually more nutritious than cow's milk.  However, Collared vixens prefer to be milked naturally and not by machine.

 

Size: Most collared foxes are about the size of a normal fox.  However, a few range in size from about rabbit-size (for those who like small pets) to about wolf-size (for those who like large pets).  Regardless of their size, all collared foxes are considered very friendly.

 

 

Extreme Intelligence: The average adult collared fox has the intelligence level of a 13-year old human (about 15% of all collared foxes have an IQ of over 125).  In addition, the high amount of human DNA gives the collared fox the ability to speak English, Spanish or French in addition to their normal canine language.  Collared vixens are very good singers and their songs act as a soft lullaby for their pups and/or young humans.

 

"Healing Touch": Collared foxes have a special ability that hasn't fully been understood as of this point.  Whenever a human or a canine is sick or injured they will rub up against the sick or injured person (or animal).  The warmth of their cheeks somehow heals the injured and cures the sick.  There are even a handful of cases where the loving touch of a collared fox has cured diseases that are incurable in real life (AIDS, Cancer, etc)**.

 

 

Because they are largely vegetarians, Collared foxes in the wild (particularly pups) are considered "prey" among various reptilian species as well as some non-anthro wild cats.  Wild non-anthro canines won't hurt a collared fox since they can cross-breed with them.  Although they have friends in other canine species, collared foxes actively seek out a human or Vulpine companion to adopt them.

 

End of Act 6