The only thing less important to science than Peers is popular opinion.
Prediction is the most important test of any hypothesis where experiment is impossible or where the powers that be are science hating fanatics who refuse to do experiment.
What would Darwin predict would be the result of every unherdable cat dying or breeding only cats that can be herded (it is exactly the same thing you know)? Whether nature does it or man the result is the same. The new species probably wouldn't even look like the old one. If nature did it the new species would probably go extinct leaving no fossils because, did I mention, that bottlenecks, by definition, dramatically decrease populations and the odds of fossilization.
What is so difficult about this concept? You don't understand evolution, the evidence thereof, or the methodology of science.