Stray cats and dogs are still a norm in India and most of us tend to not notice them because they are such a common sight. Data from the State of Pet Homelessness Index report 2021 shows just how big the numbers are -- 80 million cats and dogs on the streets in India are homeless and uncared for.
A small percentage of them get regular access to food, and the situation turned much worse when Covid-19 came calling. When the pandemic hit the world, its impact was not only limited to humans; animals, especially strays, were affected the most.
On the occasion of International Dogs Day, celebrated each year on August 26, three bright Class 10 students from Shiv Nadar School developed an AI-enabled solution to address the issue of stray dog hunger.
The affordable device can be utilised by NGOs, animal shelter homes, and residential complexes or societies to automate dog feeds.
The student innovators -- Shantanu Mukherjee, Ekansh Agrawal, and Arijit Sinha-- found themselves perturbed by how the pandemic and closed restaurants impacted stray dogs. While many common people feed stray dogs, they alone cannot cater to the large number of dogs around them.
Putting their thinking caps on, these young students developed an intelligent dog feeder device to prevent stray dogs from starvation.
The smart feeder has an in-built camera and sensor to recognise a dog. AI-enabled technology within the feeder triggers the dispensing of a certain amount of dog food, which slides down from the container to the tray placed beneath.
The team, Voice for the Voiceless, which comprises three students, has designed an AI-enabled dog feeder to prevent stray dogs from starving.
The algorithm captures and processes a live video feed from the device's camera and then detects the presence of a dog by using 'computer vision', which will then train the program to identify and detect a dog in its proximity.
When asked what drove them to build this device, the students said that the #JusticeforBruno movement was the main inspiration.
But what is the #JusticeforBruno movement? A few months back, three youths at the Adimalathura beach in Kerala committed a terrible act of animal cruelty to a dog named Bruno.
"This gave us our final push to start developing our solution to address dog malnutrition," he says.
The IT teachers at the school guided and mentored the young minds to bring their ideas to reality, and the AI-enabled dog feeder came to life. Their main goal behind it is to prevent dogs from starvation, as severely hungry dogs can be potentially harmful to passersby.
The AI-enabled device has artificial intelligent algorithms which will enable it to function without much effort from the users end. Once the device is installed in public areas, basically gated communities and societies, it can then be easily be used by dog lovers to feed stray dogs.
"They can contribute by refilling the dog food as the device will automatically dispense the food when it detects a dog in front. We also plan to develop a customised version at a later stage which can be designed for dog parents who wish to use it for their pets," Ekansh explained.
"They would be able to configure some of the settings manually such as intervals between dispensing, remote access, etc. on the device with a mobile app," he said.
The target customers for the students comprises the animal shelters, organisations, and NGOs that are working for the welfare of stray dogs. Apart from that, the next group they want to target are dog lovers.
They further added that the future prototype versions of the automated dog feeder will cater to single or working dog parents.
The prototype that they have designed would cost approximately Rs 5000. However, after considering several aspects, like technology, size, material, and design, the final price will go around Rs 9000 or Rs 10,000.
"We as human beings are blessed with the ability to communicate our hunger. We can not only communicate but also reach for our food much more conveniently as compared to animals. Unfortunately, dogs and other animals are not as privileged," Shantanu says.
"Hence, we must make use of International Dog Day as an opportunity to raise awareness about the sensitive issue of hunger and malnutrition among stray dogs. We should try to become the listening ears for the dogs around us and allow them to express their emotions," he adds.
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