The African painted dogs that vote by sneezing and run on 'shadow puppet legs' | Helen Sullivan

African wild dog pups are a dim black and look ancient, like old bronze, like the Capitoline Wolf

The African painted dog - also known as a wild dog or painted wolf - has ears that look as though they have been stitched together by a mad old toymaker. They are huge, bristly black disks - stretched upwards slightly and delicately pinned so that they form shallow bowls. At their bases are tufts of white bristles, for luck.

As a child in South Africa, I was forced more than once to watch - on a large pull-down projector screen in the school hall while it rained outside - Paljas, a uniquely, skin-crawlingly kitsch film set in a dusty railroad town that is visited by a travelling circus.