←back to thread

How dairy robots are changing work for cows and farmers

(spectrum.ieee.org)
225 points DonHopkins | 1 comments | 15 Apr 25 22:26 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
decimalenough ◴[16 Apr 25 00:36 UTC] No.43700087[source]▶
Serious question: why would a dairy care about the cow's quality of life? The setup in the video looks far more expensive than what most dairies actually do, which is keeping cows tightly confined in stalls where they can't move at all.
replies(12): >>43700129 #>>43700166 #>>43700168 #>>43700188 #>>43700245 #>>43700259 #>>43700326 #>>43701187 #>>43701250 #>>43702228 #>>43703970 #>>43708164 #
barbazoo ◴[16 Apr 25 01:05 UTC] No.43700259[source]▶
> why would a dairy care about the cow's quality of life?

There is no such "thing" as "a dairy" that would or wouldn't care about something. It's all people making decisions and why wouldn't we strive to reduce suffering of other animals?!

replies(1): >>43700572 #
decimalenough ◴[16 Apr 25 01:53 UTC] No.43700572[source]▶
Because reducing suffering would impact the bottom line? There's a whole slew of existing technology/practices (battery hens, debeaking, sow stalls, etc) that already prioritize profit over animal welfare.

Vegans also argue that the entire dairy industry, which necessarily requires keeping cows continually pregnant and separating them from their calves soon after birth, in itself creates immense suffering.

replies(3): >>43700697 #>>43702478 #>>43707710 #
1. barbazoo ◴[16 Apr 25 17:01 UTC] No.43707710[source]▶
The importance we assign the "bottom line" is totally made up, it doesn't absolve you from basic decency when dealing with other animals. If it affecting the bottom line is what stakeholders are concerned about, and they'd rather see other animals physically and psychologically suffer, then to me that signals a mental health issue that should be addressed. Why are those people so greedy, why have they lost their connection to the environment and other beings?