I am compelled to say that in antique times people used to breed with animal that were close to their livelihood like goats, cows, sheeps etc...also horses from which the Greeks has a mythological god about a man half human half horse ...can't remember his name but Greek mythology isn't that mythological after all :D

I fotgot the Egyptian mythology too...the dog headed priest, the sphinks etc... all came from actual breeds with animals and not from merely imagination
In Arabia and long before the coming of religions or in other words long before there were rules about how to live men and women used to declare publicly that they are getting married to a goat or a camel or whatever their affection was at the moment
hahaha crazy if you think about it now but then it was as normal as walking in the park ;)