The Humane Society is one of the organizations I donate to. Just got a message from it with this information:
In another historic victory, San Francisco voted to ban all sales of fur within its limits. The city’s ban will go into effect in January 2019, pending the mayor’s approval. In the last 6 months alone, Gucci, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Furla and Versace have announced they are going fur-free. In a similar vein, India has joined 37 other countries, including the United States, to ban the trade in seal skins and other products of commercial seal hunts for animal welfare or conservation reasons. HSI and our partner groups have been able to reduce commercial sealing in Canada by as much as 90 percent in recent years, sparing nearly three million seals. These victories mark a milestone in a global war against fur that is gaining momentum with each passing week.
I wonder if anyone in the forum is interested in trying to use technology to improve the lives of our fellow creatures on this earth. I don’t know how this would be done, except maybe to use drones to discover animal abuse. If anyone wants to discuss this topic, I’m all ears
I can imagine humane tech for animals to be a subject for the CHT, but it also depends on the core team… how far they are willing to stretch the subject. But tech is tech… is ALL tech, in principle
Especially how we are breeding animals on an industrial scale involves lotsa tech, which is not always that humane.
I think we impair some kind of natural, basic connection to the world when we treat animals only as meat supplies, hunting trophies, etc. Something in ourselves is hurt.
I’m hoping that they start using drones to cut down on animal poachers (like those preying on rhinos). I could see that being pretty effective. I’m not in a position to do much with that. I’d think the preserves would have thought of it… but in case they haven’t, you might want to contact some of the groups protecting them and suggest drones, possibly with night cameras to find and stop poachers.
Thank you for responding, @JohnActivist. I contribute to some animal rights organizations and follow their attempts to protect animals. I’ll write to one and see what they say.
Drone technology gives users the valuable ability to bridge the gap between helicopters in the sky, and workers on the ground. With a drone, conservationists and environmental researchers can obtain information, data, and imagery that was previously too hard to access, at half of the cost. “The big advantage of using a drone is that they are more cost-effective, as opposed to throwing up a plane or putting up a helicopter,” said Wimmer. “Drones are generally cheaper than most alternatives out there.”
Another large benefit of using a drone over alternative methods is the added safety value they can provide. “People who work in remote or more dangerous locations don’t have to be put in harms way if they have to do aerial surveys over parts of the jungle, or in the Arctic,” added Wimmer.
This is a twist on the humane-tech-for-animals idea.
A Japanese company has started holding funerals for robot dogs so that it can harvest their parts for its repair business. This may seem strange to Westerners, but it is perfectly in keeping with Japanese culture.
From an NPR article on the same subject:
“With the Aibo no longer in production, owners of old or ‘dead’ robodogs often send them to the company, the only way it can obtain genuine parts to use in repairs,” the newspaper says.
In effect, these Aibos become organ donors – martyrs for the greater good of what is, alas, a dying breed.
Before they go to robodog nirvana, however, A-Fun gives them a hero’s farewell. In all, the company has sent off about 800 Aibos in this way, all from Kofukuji in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo.
“We’d like to return the souls to the owners and make the robot a machine to utilize their parts,” says A-Fun CEO Nobuyuki Norimatsu. “We don’t take parts before we hold a funeral for them.”
Bungen Oi, the head priest at Kofukuji, who conducted the ceremony, says of the Aibos: “All things have a bit of soul.”
The U.S. Army is harming animals on a truly massive scale.
It starts by shoving pigs and goats into small cages…then shipping them to Army bases across the country. There, animals experience anyone’s worst nightmare.
Limbs cut off to mimic battlefield injuries…shot…stabbed.
The worst part: All of these training courses result in death AND could be avoided all together with the use of highly effective human-based simulators.
This excerpt is from a message sent to me by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has long advocated and promoted alternatives to using animals in medicine.
After making a small donation, I got a message with this paragraph:
Your gift will be used to help educate the public, put pressure on government entities (not just the Army, but also the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and others), stop universities and corporations from utilizing animals for research and training, promote ethical research and work to revolutionize science and medicine.
Speaking from my own point-of-view and not necessarily on behalf of CHT… I think “humane technology” is already challenged by such a large, amorphous scope – what do we mean by “technology” and what does it mean for technology to be more “humane”? – that I would advise we focus on the impacts of tech on humans and not on all animals… but of course that is painful to say as someone who aspires to see the interconnectedness of all life on the planet. And I love the compassionate and holistic place that you are coming from, @patm!
