When the early Gluonic settlers arrived in Alt-1136, they brought a huge variety of organisms with them from their original Earth. The ecosystem of Alt-1136 is not compatible with Earth life, including humans, so human habitation depended on the mysterious force of the Bubbles to maintain Earth-compatible conditions, and the introduction of an Earth ecosystem from the ground up. Interestingly, however, very few domesticated animals other than pets were apparently among those brought to Alt-1136. Although some scholars speculate that common domesticated animals may have been brought over and then died out, the mainstream view agrees with the endogenous Gluonic belief that such animals were not brought over in the first place, and this is borne out by the dearth of words for domesticated animals in the Gluonic language.

We believe the that following represents the full extent of domesticated animals use in Alt-1136. The Gluonic religion mandates strict vegetarianism, and the Gluonics didn't need animals for labour with their advanced technology. Gluonic vegetarianism is not necessarily quite veganism, but many strictly observant Gluonics are essentially vegan. Like us, however, they forged personal bonds with animals and kept pets. When they came to their new dimension - and eventually, when they fled into ours - they could not bear to leave their animal companions behind.

Chickens

Chickens deserve special mention. The first Gluonic settlers to Alt-1136 who brought chickens with them did so ostensibly strictly as pets. However, whether out of malice aforethought or later opportunism, this did not remain the case. Very early on, people were quietly harvesting eggs from their chickens and eating them directly, or using them in a variety of dishes.

This was done in strictest privacy initially, but it wasn't a secret that could be kept for long. The ecclesiastical authorities were not amused. To this day, there are strictly observant Gluonics who will not eat eggs. However, when the matter came into the open and was taken up by the General Synod, the more liberal voices present argued that the act might be morally corrupt but should not rise to the level of criminality, and ultimately, the Synod ruled that consuming eggs was morally discouraged but that the practice could be allowed as long as certain humane standards for the treatment of chickens were met.

These standards meant that the production and trade of eggs was always a sort of back yard enterprise in Gluonic culture, and eggs were a highly prized food among those who indulged and not necessarily something for every day.

However, on a much more underground level, possibly going right back to the colony's founding, some people were secretly killing and eating chickens. This kind of deviant behaviour would never have been accepted and was a much more carefully guarded secret which was only infrequently discovered and was always framed as a sick personal perversion, inevitably resulting in criminal charges. A similar situation persisted with those who were secretly eating fish, although the greater public disgust and opprobrium was reserved for chicken eaters.

After the Tiifanist rebellion, the eating of chicken and fish came out into the open and grew in popularity. However, meat eating has continued to be a minority lifestyle in Gluonic society.

Because the Gluonic refugees to Earth-0001 were mostly aligned with the rebel faction, the Gluonics we know consist of a much higher proportion of meat eaters than the doomed society they left behind. Vegetarianism remains popular, however, and most still struggle to see meats other than chicken and fish as food.

Migration to Earth-0001

As shown in the table above, not all domesticated animals from Alt-1136 were brought to Earth-0001 by the refugees fleeing that dimension. Specifically, GÉ-XY bees and Q*I-LI carp never made it over. Modern Gluonics speaking the in the Classical language use those words for similar Terrestrial animals instead. All of the other Gluonic domestic animals did make it over, but not all breeds survived - a breed of very large dog, for example, did make it over but died out.

Gluonic dogs and cats are very prized for their rarity and purebreds fetch a hefty sum on Earth-0001 today. Gluonics are often reluctant to sell them to non-Gluonics. Both species can crossbreed with their Terrestrial counterparts.

Gluonic MIN-ME "parakeets," which are not really parakeets but corvids that have evolved or been bred to look remarkably like Terrestrial parakeets, have escaped into the wild and thrived on Earth-0001, being found up and down the North American West Coast and in to Mexico. They are considered an invasive species.

The Gluonic WÉ-DE crow, however, has done much less well against larger and more aggressive native crows when it has managed to escape, and the surviving members of that species are strictly pets. They are very intelligent and affectionate and have a more melodious song than Terrestrial crows (and can be taught to talk better than any Terrestrial bird!) and in Alt-1136 were let loose in people's homes, but modern Gluonics often cage them for their own protection.

Gluonic K*A-BO monkeys are also a highly-sought-after commodity on Earth-0001 as pets, as unlike Terrestrial monkeys, they actually make good pets. Some have escaped and gone feral, however, and these have made a major pest of themselves in British Columbia's Lower Mainland and slowly spreading north and south, as the monkeys thrive on human garbage and handouts and are wickedly clever and hard to catch. The monkeys living wild in Vancouver, especially in Stanley Park, are a major draw for tourists and a major headache for locals.

And last but not least, the Gluonic chicken did make it across - today, Gluonics eat eggs and even chicken from regular Canadian farms, and their ancestral chickens are kept strictly as pets. Not many survive.