By David Vandervort

Recently, there has been some discussion about a theory that human evolution and the development of our civilization were greatly influenced by our partnership with wolves and their descendants, dogs. The theory goes that humans and wolves, working together, were far more effective hunters than either were, separately. There are other aspects to the theory, such as the wolves’ usefulness as guards against both other humans and predators but that’s the gist of it. Working together, the populations of both humans and their canine partners were able to grow faster and healthier than before they joined forces.

One thing I’ve never seen added to that discussion is the outsize influence of horses on the development of civilization. Cows, chickens, sheep and pigs are all primarily raised for meat. Dogs and horses work along side us and extend our capabilities. In return, we spend vast amounts of emotion and money on them. We give them names and take them for walks. We buy them little sweaters. We build them their own homes (stables, doghouses, etc). There are funeral homes that specialize in pets. It is also possible to buy health insurance for pets, in addition to special insurance for very valuable animals such as race horses and prize winning bulls. We spend fortunes on veterinarians.

(Full disclosure: I have two dogs, one of which is currently sleeping peacefully about 18 inches from my left knee. I also have two kittens who I took to the vet for shots a few days ago. The animals pretty much run the house.)

With all of this it seemed almost inevitable when I ran across an article for a halter fitted with sensors and software that could monitor the health of a horse that wore it (see http://www.nightwatch24.com/#welcome-folio). There has been a growing market for similar devices for humans (usually worn on the wrist) for years. The technology is advancing fast, usually allowing data to be uploaded from the device and processed using machine learning systems to discover useful information. They have applications for exercise and for medical conditions and now for horses.

In the early days of DNA testing, it was applied to animals more than to humans. Proof of the lineage of a race horse or prize stud bull turned out to be very useful information to their owners and those who deal in them. Now, DNA testing to establish a dog’s breed(s) can be bought online for under $100 (samples have to be sent to a central lab). Similar tests for cats claim to be able to test for inherited conditions such as Polycystic Kidney Disease. All this demonstrates that there is plenty of interest and money in applying the same technomedical (I think I may have just invented that word) advances that improve human lives, to our pets as well.

So what technomedical developments will be applied to pets next? The short answer seems to be, “All of them.” More specifically, we can divide these technologies into three categories:

1. Information gathering devices. Fitness devices that people wear give information about heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and even sleep habits. There is ongoing research to gather even more data and analyze it in ways that give targeted information about a person’s health. We have seen that this kind of tech is already being applied to animals, too. For people who have a monetary interest in their animals, such as cattle and horse breeders, this is an easy choice. Give it a few years and insurance companies will begin to require some sort of (currently) high tech monitoring of expensive animals.

2. Aids to health. This would be items like an artificial heart and an implanted insulin pump. I’m not aware of any of these types of items being used for pets, though it would not be a surprise. The expense and expertise required are both coming down. When they day comes that you can have your 3D printer make your dog a new heart and your housekeeping robot install it, artificial hearts for dogs will become common. In race horses or show dogs, they would probably be seen as an unfair enhancement and disallowed. On the other hand, working animals such as police dogs or horses, which require real expertise to train, may be considered valuable enough to use high tech means to keep them in the field.

3. Direct enhancement with either implanted tech or genetic manipulation. This is already happening (see http://www.enkivillage.com/genetically-modified-animals.html for examples). Over time, as knowledge grows, the balance will shift toward more practical results (or more profitable, which is sometimes the same thing). However, it is for entirely different and more personal reasons that people make other “enhancements” to pets, such as making them prosthetic limbs (one example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SdkMcm-cw4).

This is important. Domestic animals often benefit from technology originally developed for humans, even when there is no practical benefit to humans from that help.

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So where does that lead? Skipping the easy answers (I want the dog to actually tell me what she wants, instead of just staring at me hopefully), there are real possibilities. Wouldn’t it be nice if police dogs could access an implanted database of the smells of different chemicals or drugs, instead of having to be intentionally trained on each? How about assistance dogs with enough intelligence to read simple health sensors and call for help when those sensors indicate their owner is in trouble? They are less expensive than robots, easier to “program” and better company. Also, they never need their batteries replaced (Kidneys maybe, but not batteries).

It seems inevitable, then, that dogs, cats, horses (at least), will receive many of the same enhancements that are usually discussed in connection with humans, and even the human singularity. That is, genetic engineering will remove many threats to their health, increasing their lifespans and possibly their temperament. Similar means, possibly in conjunction with implanted computer components and medical devices, will increase their intelligence, regulate their mood and monitor their condition.

Intelligence is slightly problematic. Wanting animals to have sufficient intelligence to receive and carry out complicated instructions, such as the example of the rescue horse I mentioned earlier, is entirely practical (if not yet practicable). Building ways for them to speak, even if only by an implanted cell-phone with computerized speech synthesizer, would certainly make them more useful. Of course, when animals become that capable, all the questions surrounding strong artificial intelligence robots — Are they people? Do we have a right to have them serve us? Should they have legal rights? — apply.

In a recent paper (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405722316301177), Russian scientists described characteristics of an exchange between two dolphins that had a clear resemblance to human verbal communication. The dolphins took turns “speaking,” used varied sounds that seemed analogous to words, and strung those “words” together into something analogous to sentences. While the authors seemed convinced that they had proven that dolphins use language, they were unable to decipher what, if anything, these alleged words and sentences meant. Despite decades of effort and study, we are still no closer to being able to speak to dolphins than we ever were.

We are probably not so far off from having real conversations with our pets. There, we will have the advantage of teaching them our languages rather than trying to understand theirs, and decades of life together to learn the way they think. This may, or may not, work out. Either way, it’s an interesting take on First Contact.

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