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omcnoe
Wowfunhappy
"Membership" in anything should never be criminalized—that's freedom of association. Animal abuse should be criminalized.
Llamamoe
You have a point but we are literally talking about an association whose entire and only raison d'etre is to perpetuate violent crime. Maybe it shouldn't be outright criminal, since people can potentially register for other reasons than to participate, but it definitely should at least be under scrutiny.
ricardobeat
I don’t mean to defend people joining groups committing any kind of violence, but this is the kind of rhetoric being used by the far-right against their opponents, not only in the US; it is a terrible idea to allow policing based on “assumed intent”.
Xelbair
The same reasoning could be used against civil rights movement.
That's why we don't do that, if our systems are functioning fine.
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omcnoe
We essentially criminalize membership in other kinds of criminal groups centered around producing and sharing illegal content, the same should apply to animal abuse.
hshdhdhehd
Yeah but do you need to criminalise membership, or does things like conspiracy, accomplace etc. cover it.
awesome_dude
Tell that to the members of organisations deemed to be terrorists
cromka
Like the "ANTIFA"?
hshdhdhehd
Almost every freedom needs exceptions. Better to have freedom in general plus exceptions than no freedom at all. Free speech except yelling fire in the cinema etc.
berkes
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KolibriFly
The focus should absolutely be on actions, not associations
StopDisinfo910
> "Membership" in anything should never be criminalized
Conspiracy is the criminalisation of association to commit a crime. Fredom of association doesn't magically mean you won't face consequences for what your association is about.
Starlevel004
We must secure the existence of animal abuse groups and a future for free association.
hnbad
Membership in an anti-constitutional organization is a crime under German law btw and I'm pretty sure there are other countries with similar laws. The US does criminalize membership but only as an add-on to other charges (co-conspiracy, basically). Of course in the US this is mostly for going after "gangs" so it's almost exclusively used against Black people.
layer8
Regarding Germany, that’s inaccurate. It’s a crime only if you wilfully (not just out of negligence) provide support for an organization after it has been prohibited. Membership is neither necessary nor sufficient for that. It’s what you actually do for the organization once it’s prohibited that counts.
mlrtime
Only black people are in gangs? What about organized crime, would that be only black people? Your comment was insightful up till the end when you had to make it about race, which it isn't.
modo_mario
>China lacks animal welfare laws to protect these cats
Does it? I remember a lot of outrage on reddit about people that would supposedly be banned from having pets due to low social credit score. Turns out the article was a complete lie and there was just a law introduced that made banning someone from having pets for a specified time a punishment that could be dished out. Specifically in the case of someone convicted for animal abuse.
rsynnott
That's a fairly weak punishment, tho.
modo_mario
It doesn't have to be the only punishment but was one they couldn't give before and it makes more sense. How else would you make sure to prevent it? Life in jail?
moron4hire
I was confused by how that might be possible, because I first assumed this would have been something like how the SPCA or animal rescue shelters work in the US, where there would be a central location where the animals are handled and processed. But I'm getting the impression that these are automated boxes that are placed in-situ in cities?
none2585
Tangential but related - shout-out to nodogsleftbehind.com which is a nonprofit designed to save dogs from cruel treatment and the meat market in China.
varispeed
If they neuter all stray cats, they will end up with no cats. Then they'll end up with mice.
ocean117
其实还好，这是极端个例，在中国都上不了几次新闻的那种，中国的绝育计划大多是民间宠物店或者宠物医院推动的，你可以从中国的抖音看着，官方除了几个发达城市直接不管，所以中国有着世界上最高的流浪猫狗群体，以及传播范围最广的狂犬病和最高的狂犬病疫苗滥用率，在这里甚至你被家养兔子咬了医生都会建议你使用血清。 In fact, fortunately, this is an extreme case, in China can not be on the news several times, China's sterilization program is mostly promoted by private pet stores or pet hospitals, you can watch from China's Douyin, the official except for a few developed cities directly ignore, so China has the highest stray cat and dog group in the world, as well as the most widespread rabies and the highest rabies vaccine abuse rate, here even if you are bitten by a domestic rabbit, the doctor will advise you to use serum.
throawayonthe
are there places where it's illegal to kill cats? i know there are cruelty laws, but afaik in most places you are allowed to kill animals "humanely"
hnbad
If you want to be this pedantic, killing humans is technically legal in every country that has soldiers and law enforcement officers.
throawayonthe
i do mean by civillians
throw9394948
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Kichererbsen
Sometimes cats just get lost: The go on a walk-about and can't find the way home. I have a hunch that's more common than animal abuse. How does your system address that?
awesome_dude
I was thinking about all the stories of people moving homes, and their pets escaping to return to the place they just left, sometimes across continents
PatronBernard
Also prison!!!
throw9394948
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npteljes
So to throw me to prison, all one needs to do is break in, and let my cat loose.
Also, abandonment is just a minuscule part of human animal abuse.
throw9394948
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throw84393939
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CamouflagedKiwi
The most common animals that get abandoned are unwanted kittens and puppies, whose owners won't input them into your registry.
throw8494o4i44i
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arresin
It’s ok if it’s not a perfect system.
I would love a public registry of people who have been cruel to animals with a photograph of each person.
ascorbic
There's some good explanation of what this is all about here: https://streetcat.wiki/
Specially, details of the actual feeders: https://streetcat.wiki/index.php/Stray_Cat_Feeders
dcrazy
Thank you; I tried to find an “about” link but couldn’t.
ascorbic
There's one in the bottom left, but there's not much detail so I did some googling
torarnv
This seems like a good initiative, but makes me wonder, isn't there a risk these cats will end up overeating when endless Internet-people click the feed-button?
RobotToaster
Cats generally don't overeat like dogs do.
braebo
My cat would literally pop if he could eat as much as he wanted :(
ooterness
It depends on the cat. Some will self-regulate, others will not.
GreenWatermelon
The "oh lawd he comin"[0] meme is popular precisely because cat tend to over eat.
IAmBroom
My entire experience with cats disagrees.
moffkalast
> Stupid Idiot is a now adopted cat, named after the markings on his face
I'm glad for Mr. Stupid Idiot :D
thrance
Apparently he's named idiot because his moustache markings resemble the chinese character for "idiot", and stupid because he once flooded his feeder with the water bottle, somehow.
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tiagod
Flipped to the second camera, and there's a hedgehog eating all the food!
EDIT: And now, what appears to be a Siberian weasel?
Levitating
Found another case at "Coal Ball (Eat Enough Every Day)" https://0x0.st/KQsT.png
gs17
One I went to had a flock of magpies taking turns eating cat food. Different crowd during the day I guess.
Edd314159
The Purrrr app (which shows feeders like this) is really quite an experience. It’s just as hyperactive as a Temu or AliExpress, with as much dopamine hacking as a TikTok, but… for good? I think?
unsnap_biceps
The "Mr. Cloud & Mr. Peach (Yichen's Place)" feeder has an ant infestation and I just watched them team up to take a few kibble out of the feeder.
b-zee
Also saw insects at "Mr. Sweetpea, Ducks (Bald Carrot Meow Guardian)" (https://meow.camera/#4300845904274638881)
southwindcg
I saw a slug eating in another feeder, but I feel like a little sprinkle of salt around the lower perimeter outside the base would deter them.
abetancort
[dead]
lazycatjumping
We need a remote-petting-arm so we can pet the cat'berts over long distance lines.
Also a microphone for receiving feedback.
berkes
Or just walk over to the local cat rescue?
Not every problem needs a technical, internet connected solution Some problems are easily solved with "just going out of the door and spending some time" (which, I know, is not a very HN answer, but well)
hshdhdhehd
Hey Cat as a Service (we meow not concatenate) is a fine idea
NoiseBert69
I have already patented SaaS. Sheep as a Service.
WesolyKubeczek
Touch Grass as a Service?
FireInsight
We need a remote-grass-touching-arm so we can touch grass over long distance lines.
eknkc
This seems like a great program!
Small anectode;
My wife runs a cafe in Ankara, Turkey. A week after opening a random cat walked in and claimed one of the chairs.
We started feeding him. Then another walked in... We left a large automated feeder outside and started spaying / neutering, vaccinating, deworming them. I think we neutered close to 20-30 cats. A couple needed medical intervention (broken limbs, infections etc). And 2 I had to put down because they were too far gone. This effort alone put the neighborhood kitten population in control.
The place was aimed at health conscious / vegan people so the theme fit with cats hanging around.
It is really emotionally and financially draining to do these things. I've been fortunate enough to fund everything myself but I assume it is hard when scale grows larger and there is not enough help.
frm88
There is an excellent documentary about cats in Istanbul: Kedi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kedi_(2016_film). A full version of the movie can be found on YouTube premium.
Gethsemane
A highlight of my time in Turkey was the cats - thank you for your efforts! Antalya had a lot of cat hotels in the park and most looked very healthy.
throw-the-towel
Classic Turkey.
Samin100
Thank you for your efforts!
throwhdnrir8r
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catlover13000
hello from the community! happy canteen gets a lot of food so if you want to donate i recommend checking out the less popular feeders. it is the most popular because mr fresh the meme cat who was adopted originated from there.
for those worried about the kitties every feeder has a different caretaker and some are more involved than others. from what ive seen a majority of the popular ones have either a dedicated caretaker or are involved with some business. unfortunately, you may come across feeders where the cats arent as cared for or where the caretaker lacks the funds to do so. to help with this the purrr app (where english speaking users can feed them) has a fund option where instead of feeding, you can support TNR or wellness treatments!
catlover13000
i forgot to mention these feeders just began entering the U.S. this year. there are several located in shelters and have helped many homeless cats find owners! hopefully they will continue to spread and help in communities that have stray cat problems
thr0w__4w4y
I noticed all the feeders seem to be similar / same. I'm in California, I feed 3 strays in an area where the average outdoor cat's lifespan is about 4.5 years (fires, traffic, hawks, coyotes, evil people).
Right now my process is very manual but it's a labor of love. All 3 cats only show up after dark. Ring stick up camera, bowls out (clean them every day), run out on a motion alert, etc. problem is I also have racoons, opposssums and skunks. (I'm not in L.A. highrises, I'm close to the ocean).
Where can such feeders now be purchased (US customer). Thank you!
Implicated
Similarly, I've got 7 regulars and 4 to 5 more occasional visitors that I've been feeding and fixing (11 of them fixed so far) but there's issues with racoons and opossums - pretty sure they stole a whole litter, they taint the water and eat any food available.
My plan is something similar to this feed the cats thing - except, a twitch live stream of an fpv water turret in which they can "deter" those unwanted visitors.
catlover13000
I am not sure. You could contact the owners of the english translated app and they might be able to help. Their information is on their website https://www.hipurrrr.com/
Cthulhu_
I just opened one up, two cats were waiting patiently, food came out, one cat hissed at the other and started eating. Very cat.
magzter
Well I certainly got sucked in by some cats staring at the camera with an empty bowl, got me buying them kibble.
MarsIronPI
This is brilliant marketing. Buy food for the hungry cat! Whoever came up with this idea is genius.
KolibriFly
It feels like such a natural next step
maz1b
Didn't expect to find something this wonderful on HN!
Good start to the morning.
rsynnott
Oh, wow, there's a whole mythos: https://streetcat.wiki/index.php/The_Exploration_Era
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These feeders are part of a stray cat control program in China, aiming to both feed & neuter stray cat populations there.
There have been some distasteful incidents of online groups organizing to try and harm/kill specific cats famous through this feeder program. China lacks animal welfare laws to protect these cats, it's not a crime. So people have taken to identifying these abusers and reporting them to their employer, university etc. Abusers have been fired and expelled over such cases. Governments overseas whose citizens participate in such online abuse groups need to be doing more. Membership in online animal abuse groups needs to be criminalized.