A working animal is an animal, usually domestication, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and ) or for transportation (e.g. and ), while others are trained to execute certain specialized tasks (e.g. hunting dog and , , and fishing cormorants). They may also be used for milking or herding. Some, at the end of their working lives, may also be used for meat or leather.
The history of working animals may predate agriculture as dogs were used by hunter-gatherer ancestors; around the world, millions of animals work in relationship with their owners. Domesticated species are often breed for different uses and conditions, especially horses and . Working animals are usually raised on , though some are still captured from the wild, such as dolphins and some .
People have found uses for a wide variety of abilities in animals, and even industrialized societies use many animals for work. People use the strength of horses, elephants, and oxen to pull carts and move loads. Police forces use dogs for finding illegal substances and assisting in apprehending wanted persons, others use dogs to find game or search for missing or trapped people. People use various animals—, , horses, dogs, etc.—for transport, either for riding or to pull wagons and sleds. Other animals, including dogs and , help disabled people.
On rare occasions, wild animals are not only tamed, but animal training to perform work—though often solely for novelty or entertainment, as such animals tend to lack the trustworthiness and mild temper of true domesticated working animals. Conversely, not all domesticated animals are working animals. For example, while cats may catch mice, it is an instinctive behavior, not one that can be trained by human intervention. Other domesticated animals, such as sheep or rabbits, may have agricultural uses for meat, hides and wool, but are not suitable for work. Finally, small domestic pets, such as most small birds (other than certain types of Carrier pigeon) are generally incapable of performing work other than providing companionship.
Roles and specializations
Transportation
Some animals are used due to sheer physical strength in tasks such as ploughing or logging. Such animals are grouped as a
draught or
draft animals. Others may be used as
, for animal-powered transport, the movement of people and goods. Together, these are sometimes called
beasts of burden. Some animals are ridden by people on their backs and are known as
mounts. Alternatively, one or more animals in
Horse harness may be used to pull vehicles.
Riding animals or mounts
Riding animals are animals that people use as mounts in order to perform tasks such as traversing across long distances or over rugged terrain,
hunting on horseback or with some other riding animal,
around
Rural area and/or
wilderness areas, rounding up and/or
Herder livestock or even for recreational enjoyment. They mainly include
such as
,
, and
;
such as
cattle,
water buffalo, and
yak. In some places,
,
and
are also used.
Dromedaries are in arid areas of Australia, North Africa and the Middle East; the less common
Bactrian camel inhabits
Central Asia and East Asia; both are used as working animals. On occasion,
reindeer, though usually driven, may be ridden.
Certain wild animals have been tamed and used for riding, usually for novelty purposes, including the zebra and the ostrich. Some mythical creatures are believed to act as divine mounts, such as garuda in Hinduism (See vahana for divine mounts in Hinduism) and the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology.
Pack animals
may be of the same species as mounts or harness animals, though animals such as
horses (especially
),
,
donkeys,
reindeer and both types of camel may have individual bloodlines or
that have been selectively bred for packing. Additional species are only used to carry loads, including
in the
Andes Mountains.
Domesticated cattle and yaks are also used as pack animals. Other species used to carry cargo include dogs and .
Draft animals
An intermediate use is as draft animals,
horse harness singly or in
, to pull
, wheeled vehicles or
.
-
Oxen are slow but strong, and have been used in a yoke since ancient times: the earliest surviving vehicle, Puabi's Sumerian sledge, was ox-drawn; an acre was originally defined as the area a span of oxen could plow in a day. The domestic water buffalo and carabao, pull wagons and ploughs in Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
-
Draft horse are commonly used in harness for heavy work. Several breeds of medium-weight horses are used to pull lighter wheeled carts, carriages and buggies when a certain amount of speed or style is desirable.
-
are considered tough and strong, with harness capacity dependent on the type of horse mare used to produce the mule foal. Because they are a hybrid animal and usually are infertile, separate breeding programs must also be maintained.
-
Pony and are often used to pull carts and small wagons. Historically, ponies were commonly used in mining to pull ore carts.
-
Dogs are used for pulling light carts or, particularly, sleds (e.g. such as huskies) for both recreation and working purposes.
-
Goats also can perform light harness work in front of carts.
-
Reindeer are used in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Nordic countries and Siberia. During World War II, the Red Army deployed deer transportation battalions on the Eastern Front.
-
Asian elephant are used for logging in Southeast Asia.
-
Less often, and have been trained to harness. According to Juan Ignacio Molina the Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen observed the use of llama (a llama type) by native of Mocha Island as plough in 1614.
Assorted wild animals have, on occasion, been tamed and trained to harness, including and even moose.
Guard animals
As some domesticated animals display extremely protective or territorial behavior, certain breeds and species have been utilized to guard people and/or property such as
,
Public sector,
,
,
livestock and even
Organized crime.
Guard animals can either act as alarms to alert their owners of danger or they can be used to actively scare off and/or even attack encroaching
Trespass or dangerous animals. Well known examples of guard animals include
guard dog,
guard goose and
guard llama.
Powering fixed machinery
Working draught animals may power fixed machinery using a treadmill and have been used throughout history to power a winch to raise water from a well.
were formerly used to power
for roasting meat.
Treatment animals
Working as a form of biological treatment for the environment. Animals such as
were imported to the U.S. in 1970s to control algae, weed, and parasite growth in aquatic farms, weeds in canal systems, and as one form of
sewage treatment.
Pathogens and diseases
Animals can be used to detect the presence of pathogens and patients carrying infectious diseases.
-
Dogs
-
Dogs have been trained to detect cancer.
-
Detection rats such as those trained by APOPO can also be taught to identify diseases, especially pulmonary tuberculosis.
[ Dutch organization that raises and trains detection rats for worldwide use. See also ]
Searching and retrieving
Dogs and pigs, with a better sense of smell than humans, can assist with gathering by finding valuable products, such as
(a very expensive subterranean fungus). The French typically use
, while Italians mainly use dogs.
Monkeys are trained to pick coconuts from palm trees, a job many human workers consider as too dangerous.
Detecting contraband
Detection dogs, commonly employed by law enforcement authorities, are trained to use their
to detect
,
, currency, and
contraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones, among other things.
The sense most used by detection dogs is
olfaction, hence such dogs are also commonly known as 'sniffer dogs'. For this task, dogs may sometimes be used remotely from the suspect item, for example via the Remote Air Sampling for Canine Olfaction (RASCO) system.
Interfacing and organization
Assistance animals
-
The best-known example is the guide dog or seeing eye dog for blind people. See also service dog. are also occasionally used for this purpose as well.
-
Trained dogs and African, Asian, and American monkeys, such as capuchin monkeys have been taught to provide other functions for impaired people, such as opening mail and minor household tasks of the same like.
Herding
-
A very close working relationship exists between a stockman or shepherd, a herding dog, and the herd (or mob) of sheep or cattle. Cattle and sheep herders in other parts of the world also use various dog breeds.
-
Certain breeds of horses also have an innate "cow sense" that allows them to effectively carry a rider to the right place at the right time to muster (gather or round up) livestock. See stock horse; cutting horse
Police and military
The defensive and offensive capabilities of animals (such as fangs and claws) can be used to protect or to attack humans.
-
The guard dog barks or attacks, to warn of an intruder, are used to detect explosives contraband and are trained to attack on command.
-
were trained for battle in ancient times and are still used for military transport today.
-
Military uses of horses have changed over the millennia but still continue, including for police horse work.
-
Camel cavalry was used in deserts since they had better performance and survivability in the harsh desert environment than horses. India's Border Security Force and some other countries still used camel cavalry for patrolling in the Thar desert.
-
Dolphins and sea lions carry markers to attach to as well as patrolling harbors.
-
Dogs can be trained to find .
-
, which are lighter and less of a risk to set the mines off, have recently been used more frequently.
-
transport material, usually messages on small pieces of paper, by air.
Legal status
In some jurisdictions, certain working animals are afforded greater legal rights than other animals. One such common example is
and
, which are often afforded additional protections and the same memorial services as human officers and soldiers.
India law have provision for the in loco parentis for implementing animal welfare laws. Under the Indian law the non-human entities such as animals, deities, trusts, charitable organizations, corporate, managing bodies, etc. and several other non-human entitles have been given the status of the "legal person" with legal rights and duties, such as to sue and be sued, to own and transfer the property, to pay taxes, etc. In court cases regarding animals, the animals have the status of "legal person" and humans have the legal duty to act as "loco parentis" towards animals welfare like a parent has towards the minor children. In a case of cow-smuggling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court mandated that "entire animal kingdom including avian and aquatic" species has a "distinct legal persona with corresponding rights, duties, and liabilities of a living person" and humans are "loco parentis" while laying out the norms for animal welfare, veterinary treatment, fodder and shelter, e.g. animal drawn carriages must not have more than four humans, and load carrying animals must not be loaded beyond the specified limits and those limits must be halved when animals have to carry the load up a slope. A court while deciding the Animal Welfare Board of India vs Nagaraja case in 2014 mandated that animals are also entitled to the fundamental right to freedom
See also
External links
