Meow.camera
267 points by southwindcg 8 hours ago | 83 comments

omcnoe 5 hours ago
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.

reply
Recursing 3 hours ago
I'm not vegan, but I'm always really surprised by the difference in how we see cats and pigs. See e.g. https://theintercept.com/2020/05/29/pigs-factory-farms-venti...

https://www.ted.com/talks/lewis_bollard_how_to_end_factory_f...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_molting

The US also has basically no animal welfare laws for the vast majority of its animals

reply
hshdhdhj4444 39 minutes ago
Future generations are gonna look back at us for our treatment of animals, especially farmed animals, much the way we look back at our slave owning ancestors.

And just like we wonder how so many otherwise morally upstanding people participated in such an obviously abhorrent system as human slavery, they will think the same about people in our generation.

Unfortunately, it turns out that social norms are extremely powerful and even recognizing one is acting purely out of those social norms in ways that would be very obviously insanely unethical if looked at even slightly objectively is very difficult.

reply
SapporoChris 26 minutes ago
The pendulum could swing the other way and instead animal rights activists could be looked upon with complete disdain. Just like human rights, progress is never guaranteed.
reply
unnamed76ri 33 minutes ago
I think it more likely that future generations will look back at abortion in this way than the farming of animals.
reply
grumpy-de-sre 2 hours ago
I suspect concerns about the impacts on agriculture are a big part of the reason why the Chinese authorities haven't clamped down on this stuff yet.
reply
ricardobeat 2 hours ago
Don’t worry, if cats tasted good they would be receiving the same treatment!

The amount of cruel farming practices, chemicals, unsustainable methods etc that the US uses while being forbidden in the rest of the world is inexcusable.

reply
esperent 2 hours ago
> if cats tasted good

How do you know they don't?

By all accounts dogs taste good, but there's only a small number of cultures that eat them.

reply
makeitdouble 2 hours ago
They probably don't taste bad...I mean, most animals somewhat taste good (crocodiles, frogs, hogs, deers, pigeons, eels etc). Now, it would be utterly ineffective to try to breed cats for meat, which is IMHO why we have such a small variety of regular meat. We chose the species that were the most convenient, regardless of any other inherent ethical consideration.

So for better or worse the line is purely arbitrary, and people's pet pig being off-limit by virtue of being declared a pet is an example of that.

reply
petesergeant 2 hours ago
> Don’t worry, if cats tasted good they would be receiving the same treatment!

I don't think that's true: dog meat isn't widely eaten, but enough countries do eat it to suggest it's palatable.

reply
unnamed76ri 15 minutes ago
I used to work in the pet industry and an oft cited statistic was that 1,000,000 cats and dogs are euthanized every year in the US. It would never happen for cultural reasons but, it seems like China could be a booming market for selling these animals as meat instead of letting it all go to waste.
reply
isoprophlex 53 minutes ago
Expensive to breed carnivorous animals though. Chickens, cows, etc. you can directly raise on cheap vegetable matter.
reply
__alexs 2 hours ago
Caring about the animals involved in industrial farming ahead of the humans involved in it is ecofascism but America also mostly doesn't seem to care about the people so I guess it's just regular fascism.
reply
Wowfunhappy 4 hours ago
"Membership" in anything should never be criminalized—that's freedom of association. Animal abuse should be criminalized.
reply
Llamamoe 3 hours ago
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.
reply
ricardobeat 2 hours ago
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”.
reply
the_other 2 hours ago
It's the same direction of travel as recent UK laws allowing police to stop people preparing to join protests if they think the accused might be planning to e.g. glue themselves to something.

IMO this is basically policing thought crimes. It worries me.

reply
Xelbair 3 hours ago
The same reasoning could be used against civil rights movement.

That's why we don't do that, if our systems are functioning fine.

reply
hnbad 2 hours ago
Could be? You should look into the history of the Black Panthers. The US government doesn't need to make membership illegal to suppress and destroy political movements.
reply
omcnoe 4 hours ago
We essentially criminalize membership in other kinds of criminal groups centered around producing and sharing illegal content, the same should apply to animal abuse.
reply
hshdhdhehd 3 hours ago
Yeah but do you need to criminalise membership, or does things like conspiracy, accomplace etc. cover it.
reply
SiempreViernes 2 hours ago
Membership in an organisation can be conclusive evidence you joined a criminal enterprise/criminal conspiracy, making the the entire debate somewhat moot.

But fine, only joining the criminal conspiracy is illegal, being a member can be legal (you always have to join to become a member).

reply
KolibriFly 46 minutes ago
The focus should absolutely be on actions, not associations
reply
StopDisinfo910 2 hours ago
> "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.

reply
awesome_dude 3 hours ago
Tell that to the members of organisations deemed to be terrorists
reply
cromka 29 minutes ago
Like the "ANTIFA"?
reply
hshdhdhehd 3 hours ago
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.
reply
timeon 3 hours ago
Ok so add this to these "exceptions".
reply
hshdhdhehd 3 hours ago
I think with conspiracy you dont need to be that specific. Any crime you do as a group is a crime.
reply
berkes 3 hours ago
I'm halfway up in middle management of the terrorist company called Antifa, career aiming at C level in 6 years (wink wink).
reply
actionfromafar 2 hours ago
How's the health insurance? You got dental?
reply
hnbad 2 hours ago
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.
reply
throawayonthe 3 hours ago
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"
reply
hnbad 2 hours ago
If you want to be this pedantic, killing humans is technically legal in every country that has soldiers and law enforcement officers.
reply
throw9394948 5 hours ago
The only way to stop animal abuse, is a registry to match animals DNA to owners. If owner abandons its animal on streets, they get fines and prison!
reply
Kichererbsen 4 hours ago
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?
reply
awesome_dude 3 hours ago
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
reply
throw9394948 3 hours ago
Children also get lost, and we punish the person responsible! Pets are family members, and big responsibility! You can not just leave them roaming freely outside! What if they get hit by a car! This sort of neglect absentee ownership abuse we need to fight!
reply
npteljes 4 hours ago
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.

reply
throw9394948 3 hours ago
[flagged]
reply
throw84393939 41 minutes ago
[flagged]
reply
munchlax 16 minutes ago
You have no idea how much F*s a cat gives.

You don't even have to feed my cat for it to like you. Any human attention at all and the engine runs.

reply
CamouflagedKiwi 3 hours ago
The most common animals that get abandoned are unwanted kittens and puppies, whose owners won't input them into your registry.
reply
bn-l 2 hours ago
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.

reply
throw8494o4i44i 2 hours ago
That is beauty of DNA! Those kittens are already in registry, and we can punish kitten abusers!
reply
adastra22 4 hours ago
that's not the abuse being talked about here
reply
ascorbic 5 hours ago
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

reply
torarnv 54 minutes ago
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?
reply
dcrazy 5 hours ago
Thank you; I tried to find an “about” link but couldn’t.
reply
ascorbic 5 hours ago
There's one in the bottom left, but there's not much detail so I did some googling
reply
moffkalast 3 hours ago
> Stupid Idiot is a now adopted cat, named after the markings on his face

I'm glad for Mr. Stupid Idiot :D

reply
jsheard 10 minutes ago
reply
thrance 23 minutes ago
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.
reply
Edd314159 4 hours ago
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?
reply
eknkc 2 hours ago
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.

reply
Gethsemane 33 minutes ago
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.
reply
throw-the-towel 37 minutes ago
Classic Turkey.
reply
throwhdnrir8r 60 minutes ago
[flagged]
reply
cromka 27 minutes ago
Brand new account only to start off like this. Sigh.
reply
tommit 11 minutes ago
They are all over this thread with hot takes.
reply
unsnap_biceps 5 hours ago
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.
reply
b-zee 3 hours ago
Also saw insects at "Mr. Sweetpea, Ducks (Bald Carrot Meow Guardian)" (https://meow.camera/#4300845904274638881)
reply
abetancort 4 hours ago
[dead]
reply
rsynnott 38 minutes ago
reply
lazycatjumping 5 hours ago
We need a remote-petting-arm so we can pet the cat'berts over long distance lines.

Also a microphone for receiving feedback.

reply
berkes 3 hours ago
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)

reply
hshdhdhehd 2 hours ago
Hey Cat as a Service (we meow not concatenate) is a fine idea
reply
WesolyKubeczek 2 hours ago
Touch Grass as a Service?
reply
FireInsight 52 minutes ago
We need a remote-grass-touching-arm so we can touch grass over long distance lines.
reply
thenthenthen 28 minutes ago
WOW this is amazing! There are many of these ‘smart kitty houses’ in my Shanghai neighbourhood!
reply
maz1b 5 hours ago
Didn't expect to find something this wonderful on HN!

Good start to the morning.

reply
KolibriFly 34 minutes ago
Every now and then
reply
notfed 5 hours ago
Sooo I really expected this to have a way to donate money to specific cats. If you added this feature I honestly think it'd be a viral idea.
reply
dcrazy 5 hours ago
Unfortunately the Internet has taught me to immediately speculate on how this could be used to monetize animal abuse.
reply
typpilol 5 hours ago
I like the one cat rescue out of ohio that streams their cat area inside 24/7.

They get a ton of donations of food and toys so it seems to work out well.

reply
Cthulhu_ 2 hours ago
I just opened one up, two cats were waiting patiently, food came out, one cat hissed at the other and started eating. Very cat.
reply
magzter 4 hours ago
Well I certainly got sucked in by some cats staring at the camera with an empty bowl, got me buying them kibble.
reply
KolibriFly 26 minutes ago
It feels like such a natural next step
reply
SeanAnderson 5 hours ago
So this is like that fish camera thing where humans would identify when the fish ladder gate needed to be opened to let fish through, but this time it's for feeding stray kitties?

Or maybe there's no human interaction? I don't have the Purrr app.

reply
pamelafox 5 hours ago
Love this! Relatedly, does anyone have a suggestion for an outdoor solar-powered web camera that I could point at the critters in my garden? I'd love to stream a MonarchCam or MantisCam some day.
reply
TheChaplain 2 hours ago
Reolink have one.

Used Reolink ages ago for home surveillance and it worked well then.

reply
tantomile 2 hours ago
this is what the internet is for.
reply
heywoods 5 hours ago
I don’t know why I expected anything else with that url.
reply
tommica 5 hours ago
Now this is pure internet gold.
reply
ahoka 4 hours ago
Gold? It's depressing.
reply
qbit42 45 minutes ago
Why? They're providing food for stray cats.
reply