Aworking animal is an animal, usuallydomesticated, that is kept by humans and trained toperform tasks instead of beingslaughtered to harvestanimal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g.oxen anddraft horses) or for transportation (e.g.riding horses andcamels), while others areservice animals trained to execute certain specialized tasks (e.g.hunting andguide dogs,messenger pigeons, andfishing cormorants). They may also be used formilking orherding. Some, at the end of their working lives, may also be used formeat orleather.
The history of working animals may predateagriculture as dogs were used byhunter-gatherer ancestors; around the world, millions of animals work in relationship with their owners. Domesticated species are oftenbred for different uses and conditions, especially horses andworking dogs. Working animals are usually raised onfarms, though some are still captured from the wild, such as dolphins and someAsian elephants.
People have found uses for a wide variety of abilities in animals, and evenindustrialized societies use many animals for work. People use the strength of horses, elephants, andoxen 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—camels,donkeys, horses, dogs, etc.—for transport, either for riding or to pull wagons and sleds. Other animals, including dogs andmonkeys, helpdisabled people.
On rare occasions, wild animals are not only tamed, buttrained 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 andwool, but are not suitable for work. Finally, small domestic pets, such as most small birds (other than certain types ofpigeon) are generally incapable of performing work other than providing companionship.
Some animals are used due to sheer physical strength in tasks such as ploughing or logging. Such animals are grouped as adraught ordraft animals. Others may be used aspack animals, foranimal-powered transport, the movement of people and goods. Together, these are sometimes calledbeasts of burden. Some animals are ridden by people on their backs and are known asmounts. Alternatively, one or more animals inharness may be used to pull vehicles.
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,patrolling aroundrural and/orwilderness areas,rounding up and/orherding livestock or even for recreational enjoyment. They mainly includeequines such ashorses,donkeys, andmules;bovines such ascattle,water buffalo, andyak. In some places,elephants,llamas andcamels are also used.Dromedary camels are in arid areas of Australia, North Africa and the Middle East; the less commonBactrian camel inhabitscentral 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 thezebra and theostrich. Somemythical creatures are believed to act as divine mounts, such asgaruda inHinduism (Seevahana for divine mounts in Hinduism) and the winged horsePegasus inGreek mythology.
Pack animals may be of the same species as mounts or harness animals, though animals such ashorses,mules,donkeys,reindeer and both types of camel may have individual bloodlines orbreeds that have beenselectively bred for packing. Additional species are only used to carry loads, includingllamas in theAndes.
Domesticatedcattle andyaks are also used as pack animals. Other species used to carry cargo includedogs andpack goats.
An intermediate use is as draft animals,harnessed singly or inteams, to pullsleds, wheeled vehicles orploughs.
Assorted wild animals have, on occasion, been tamed and trained to harness, includingzebras and evenmoose.
As some domesticated animals display extremely protective or territorial behavior, certain breeds and species have been utilized to guard people and/or property such ashomes,public buildings,businesses,crops,livestock and evenvenues of criminal activity.[4][5] 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 encroachingintruders or dangerous animals. Well known examples of guard animals includedogs,geese andllamas.[citation needed]
Working draught animals may power fixed machinery using atreadmill and have been used throughout history to power a winch to raise water from a well.Turnspit dogs were formerly used to powerroasting jacks for roasting meat.
Working as a form of biological treatment for the environment. Animals such asAsian carps 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 ofsewage treatment.[6]
Animals can be used to detect the presence of pathogens and patients carrying infectious diseases.
Dogs and pigs, with a better sense of smell than humans, can assist with gathering by finding valuable products, such astruffles (a very expensive subterranean fungus). The French typically usetruffle hogs, while Italians mainly use dogs.[citation needed]Monkeys are trained to pick coconuts from palm trees, a job many human workers consider as too dangerous.[16]
Detection dogs, commonly employed by law enforcement authorities, are trained to use theirsenses to detectillegal drugs,explosives, currency, andcontraband electronics such as illicit mobile phones, among other things.[17] The sense most used by detection dogs issmell, 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 theRemote Air Sampling for Canine Olfaction (RASCO) system.[18]
The defensive and offensive capabilities of animals (such as fangs and claws) can be used to protect or to attack humans.
In some jurisdictions, certain working animals are afforded greater legal rights than other animals. One such common example ispolice dogs andmilitary dogs, which are often afforded additional protections and the same memorial services as human officers and soldiers.
India law have provision for thein 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 thelegal duty to act as "loco parentis" towards animals welfare like a parent has towards the minor children. In a case ofcow-smuggling, thePunjab 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 theAnimal Welfare Board of India vs Nagaraja case in 2014 mandated that animals are also entitled to thefundamental right to freedom[20] enshrined in the Article 21 ofConstitution of India i.e. right to life, personal liberty and theright to die with dignity (passive euthanasia). In another case, a court inUttarakhand state mandated that animals have the same rights as humans.[21]
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