When a dog breed shows up prominently in a film, on TV, or in the news media there is usually a spike in popularity which causes people to adopt pets from those breeds.
That happened with huskies and Game of Thrones. Strictly speaking, there weren’t huskies in the storyline for GoT, but huskies were used as stand-ins for younger direwolves.
Regardless, adoptions of husky breeds shot up and the new pet owners eventually learned that these dogs presented serious challenges.
Hayley Doak who runs Tyrone Husky Rescue
says their cute, fluffy appearance as puppies and the draw of the clear
blue eyes many of the dogs have, is enough for some people to make a
life changing addition to their home - but not always one they can
handle.
[ … ]
She explained: “There’s no doubt, they’re a beautiful breed. Most
people looking for a Siberian Husky want one with blue eyes - and you
can see why. They’re stunning. But blue eyes or not, these dogs are a
challenge as a household pet.
“Many people manage very well with them but many sadly don’t think that that’s where we in rescue end up picking up the pieces.
“Huskies are really not your regular domesticated dog. They have a
huge prey drive which triggers the escape artist in them they’ll try to
find a way to get to prey unless they’re properly contained.
“They have energy that seems never ending, bred to run all day in the harshest of conditions - and they actually need to run. It’s in their DNA.
“They’re
not an aggressive breed but get bored easily and tend to be
destructive, destroying furniture, walls, doors, skirting boards,
kitchens, anything really because their bodies are powerful and their
brains need stimulation.”
There is a clear connection between the spike in husky popularity and GoT.
In 2010, a year before the first series of Game of Thrones aired,
just 79 Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian Huskies and Akitas were being cared
for by Dogs Trust UK, compared to 411 the following year - an increase
of 420%.
[ … ]
At Tyrone
Husky Rescue, Hayley has rescued and rehabilitated nearly 400 Huskies
from circumstances of neglect and abuse, but mostly from surrender.
Before adopting a dog, do the research. Most of the time you’re better off adopting a mixed-breed mutt. With mutts you’ll usually have fewer problems caused by inbreeding. Just look at what inbreeding did to the Targaryens and you’ll be glad you got a dog who didn’t turn into a canine version of the Mad King.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who would argue that Night of
the Living Dead is anything less than one of the most influential horror
movies of all time, but it wasn’t until Romero followed it up with Dawn
of the Dead a decade later that the floodgates opened to unleash
imitators like a horde of the undead. Night of the Living Dead’s
success inspired other independent horror movies but
only a scant few zombie outings.
Chief among
them is director Jorge Grau’s 1974 effort The Living Dead at
Manchester Morgue, also known as Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (a rare
instance in which the US rebranding is superior to the original title); a highly underrated zombie movie.
The similarities to Night of the Living Dead are irrefutable (it was, in fact, pitched to Grau as “Night of the Living Dead in color”), but it
avoids playing like a derivative rip-off. A Spanish-Italian
co-production lensed in England, it harnesses an international flavor along
with ample atmosphere.
At first I thought this news story was a prank or a belated April Fool’s Day joke.
But apparently there’s a subdivision being built outside Corpus Christi, TX which is called King’s Landing and has (mostly) streets with GoT related names.
TBH, it may be named King’s Landing but it’s closer in size to Mole’s Town.
The site for the developer claims there are 70 houses there. But I counted only about half of that. Those houses off to the upper right near the Restored to Life church (a R'hllor temple?) don’t seem to be part of King’s Landing.
For a better view than that screen shot, explore this area at Google Maps.
There don’t seem to be any Targaryen names in that subdivision. Perhaps they think it would be bad luck in a locale with a name like King’s Landing. We also probably shouldn’t expect any streets named Bolton or Craster.
No cause for the fire in the news story on Lannister Lane has yet been determined. Though somebody is bound to blame it on Drogon.
