Research on Placement of Water Dispensers for Homeless Dogs

by researchers: Olivia Wang ,Zoey Lin ,Brendan Hsu ,Ingram Chung

Our group members want to help the homeless dog that is outside of the animal shelter and make their quality of life higher. Because people will take care of the animals in the shelter, but no one will take care of the animals that are outside the shelter, that's one reason why we want to help them. Water dispensers may be helpful for raising the quality of life of homeless dogs..

Another reason to research the use of water dispensers is based on information gained when we researched the website ipetgroup.com(vJZzyeuGMVZ.html).We found one of the big problems that make homeless animals can't survive in the city is because they don’t have enough water or clean water to drink. Most of the time homeless animals are drinking waste water discharged by humans or rainwater on the ground. When homeless animals drink this water, they will get sick, but they cannot get treatment, so they will die. Therefore, we want to make and place water dispensers for homeless animals to allow them to have a better life. If they have a better life they can be more happy and clean, so maybe they won’t smell bad and fight for food, then people will not be in danger.

This semester we have a science class, in science class we learn how to make a water dispenser for dogs. This dispenser will make sure the stray dogs have clean water to drink, and this kind of dispenser will not cause too much trouble for humans, because it will filter the water by themselves, so people don’t have to change water often.

(Prototype of water dispenser)

This research was conducted through means of direct interviews using a research questionnaire. The subjects included 50 people.

1.Do you think stray animals are an important issue that people should be aware of? 2.Where do you think we can put the water dispenser? 3.What are the hidden dangers of installing drinking water dispensers for stray animals in cities?

(total:50 people)

(total:50 people)

(total:50 people)

1. Half of the respondents think about placement of water dispensers, they will think about parks. 2. A small part of respondents say they want animals to stay away from the city. 3. Every respondent thinks the issue of homeless dogs or cats is very important. 4. Some respondents think dogs gather is not very good and will be dangerous. 5. A good number of respondents worry homeless dogs will vandalize things. 6. Some respondents want dogs and people to be separate. 7. Some respondents think we do not need a water dispenser for dogs.

(total:50 people)

(100% of people who answered this question.) According to the data, 100% of people think that the topic of stray animals is important. Our group believes in real life, even without looking at data, we can feel that there will be people who don’t like animals, so we think that this result may not be completely correct. Because this question involves moral and conscience elements, when people answer this question, social pressure may make them give a positive answer. However this response may not be related to their true feelings on the topic. But this data still shows us, at some level all people think this issue is important.

These stray animals live in the same place with us. In our country, dogs and cats are of special significance to many people. More and more people regard dogs and cats as family members. Now, the number of people raising dogs and cats is about to surpass the number of people having children (see table 1 below). It can be seen that dogs and cats are indeed different from other livestock (chickens, pigs, cows, sheep…), and they are deeply integrated with humans. Business and activities related to dogs and cats can be seen everywhere in the city. It is reasonable to believe that the large majority of people see the issue of homeless animals as an important one.

(table 1)

According to the results of our street surveys, almost everyone thinks that the topic of stray animals is important and people need to pay attention to it. It is reasonable to believe that society will accept the government spending more money and resources on this issue. Based on our findings, We suggest that the government can devote more resources and attention to the issue of stray animals, and the manufacture and use of water dispensers.

According to our data, 8% of people don’t want to live in the same area with homeless animals. For this part, we divide it into three main possible reasons. The first reason is that some people think that stray dogs will affect the quality of life of human beings. The second reason is that dogs emit peculiar smells. The third reason is that they are worried that the behavior of dogs fighting for food will bring danger to humans. The reason why dogs fight for food is because food is not enough. About the food, our group has an idea. We would suggest changing the way the schools’ nature class is taught. Students can plant vegetables and fruits to provide food to stray animals. In the process, students can learn about plants through practical operations and the growth process and students can also further understand the dog's diet. The government can set up a new department to collect crops from schools and send them to designated areas for feeding. (dogs can eat bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans.) according to petmily.com. (prepare-a-canine-diet-that-includes-vegetables)

A small number of people think we can do some things that are more important than manufacturing and placing water dispensers, like advocating for everyone to adopt dogs, or fundraising. However, our group members think that many people already take these actions (中華民國保護動物協會、關懷生命協會、台灣動物緊急救援小組). Our group believes that that only helps the dogs in the shelter, so we hope to improve the quality of life of stray dogs. Water dispensers are needed to provide a steady source of water for homeless dogs.

Through this questionnaire survey, we found that although stray animals have now become an existence that cannot be ignored in human life, there are still a small number of people who actually reject living with them. At the same time, we have also found that most people still maintain an open attitude towards stray animals and are willing to support the idea of helping stray animals. We suggest the government make water dispensers for dogs in order to take care of a serious need. The best locations for these dispensers may be parks.

Lastly, we hope to spread the message that even just going to the shelter to volunteer for a day, it will be a great help to the dogs. There are actually many young and energetic dogs in the shelter, but due to the lack of manpower in the shelter, they sometimes cannot get out of the cage for a walk once a week. In fact, the average dog needs to walk at least twice a day. Yes, so your arrival is really important to them. Helping stray animals does not necessarily mean you need to adopt them. Although having a warm home must be the happiest destination for dogs, if you really can’t bring them with you when you go home, there are still many ways to help them. Your help may change their lives, so please work together for the stray animals!