What was the dog "Canis vertigus" bred to do?

Dogs are better than us at many things, including sniffing bombs, hunting and just being man's best friends. But there was once a dog that kept kitchens in business, and its name was the Turnspit. Zoologist Carl Linnaeus named them Canis vertigus, Latin for “dizzy dog.”

During the 16th century, Britain’s most valuable kitchen staff member was a dog. The Turnspit was bred to run in a wooden wheel that turned a roasting spit, cooking meat evenly over an open fire. Before dogs took over, the job belonged to younger boys who couldn’t keep up with the long hours. The wheels were placed far away from the flames to keep the dogs safe from overheating, but they were forced to keep their short legs on the move. Turnspits were small, strong, and sturdy.

When the Turnspit started being employed in the United States, the founder of ASPCA, Henry Bergh, was so moved by the conditions in which the Turnspits were found in Manhattan hotels, he founded the organization in 1866. This was around the time the dogs had become scarce, and 50 years later, they completely disappeared.

There is only one known Turnspit left, and her name is Whiskey. She’s on display at the Abergavenny Museum in Wales, posing with some flowers against a pretty blue backdrop.