Heated Compation

by Danielle Morgan

​What: Heated stuffed animal for orphaned animals & how-to guide
Purpose: Direct care/impact on animals; Education
Issue: Non-human animals in need of comfort; Speciesism

Tragedies happen to non-human animals every day such as being displaced from their families, losing parents, being abused by humans and more. These tragedies leave these non-human animals alone and scared. This can be seen by the dogs Hal Herzog speaks of in his book, “Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals.” These dogs were a part of Michael Vick’s fighting kennels and as Frank McMillan says, they don’t show aggression, but fear of people because of the mistreatment they faced. Other animals lose their mothers and must be taken care of by humans because they cannot care for themselves yet. These tragedies inspired me to make a comfort object for these non-human animals. This object consists of a stuffed animal with a heating cell inside to make it warm. With this object the frightened dogs or other animals can have a soft, warm friend that does not need to be a human or another animal and orphaned animals can have the feeling of a “mother” to console them. 

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The stuffed animal that I used is a koala and to heat this koala, I bought a Bluetooth Thermacell Heat Pack which I placed inside with the stuffing. An app must be downloaded onto a smartphone to use this Heat Pack which then has the option of what level of heat is desired. This koala can be a prototype to other heated stuffed animals. Examples are: larger stuffed animals could be used but would need more heating cells and smaller ones could be used but would need smaller heating cells. Additional things can be added to the stuffed animal. One such thing, if possible, could be a chew toy in place of a leg or arm for the dogs so they don’t rip apart the stuffed animal. There are other heated stuffed animals already made, some are microwaveable, some with replaceable heating sources and good success rates according to reviews. Though these heating sources can last a while, they either must be microwaved to warm it up, or replaced, the heating pack I used is rechargeable and easy to access with a smartphone. This warm koala was safely tested with an orphaned kitten who seemed to enjoy it very much. Pooh, as he’s named for his color, slept under the koala and when the koala was pulled away to see his reaction he rubbed his face against it. His sister, Iris, also slept under the koala just fine and enjoyed it as well.

This comfort object could be for many animals on the sociozoologic scale, though not all of them. The term sociozoologic scale was coined by Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders and it refers to the way humans have ranked other animals on a scale of how they benefit humans to the less desired non-human animals (DeMello, 2012). Mice, rats, and other animals are viewed as pests and rank lower on the sociozoologic scale compared to dogs, cats, and generally mammals with soft fur who viewed as cute. Although these animals are lower on the sociozoologic scale for most people, they can still be included with the need for a comfort object and not excluded from being able to use this one. Animals without the possibility of using this stuffed animal would be the ones who live underwater, are too large, or too small. Also, the sociozoologic scale leads to speciesism, or as I learned in an Animals and Society class, the idea that humans are superior to animals or see certain animals as better than others. Such as a person will see their pet dog as better than a cow or even a stray dog. This comfort object can be catered to different species from cats and dogs, to mice and even koalas. Though it can be made for different species, it cannot be made for all which is sad to me and possibly new ideas will come to me or you could make your own ideas of how to help all the non-human animals

How To Guide: Make your own heated companion!

As I have said earlier, this object was made with the idea of comforting non-human animals and the goal of it would be to help the other animals and possibly continue making these for use by other people. This specific prototype, is not necessarily optimal for large organizations because it is Bluetooth which would make it difficult to track all of them. But it could be used in smaller settings such as foster care, small sanctuaries, or by individual people who take in animals and care for them. Another goal would be teaching people how to make these themselves for their own companion animals, other animals they care for, or to donate. If these spread like the goal, the objects could improve the lives of other animals in the various places that provide care. One way of improving their lives, which I have said many times throughout this post, is the comfort of something soft and warm. This object could console scared, depressed, lonely, young, and countless other non-human animals. Also, many newborn or very young non-human animals die when they come into the care of humans if they’re mother dies or rejects them, this object could help these young by giving them something that is similar to the feeling of a mother and possibly give them a sense of hope and will to live. 

There are many benefits to a non-human animal if they would have this comfort object in their life. Through many of the tragedies non-human animals face, this object could help them when they are in need of a companion. This object can help orphans, scared non-human animals, and can help to fight speciesism. There are many tutorials on how to make a different heated stuffed animal than the one I made. But I have made my own tutorial with this koala, though it is the first I ever put together, and I plan to construct a better one someday. I personally plan to give this koala to a person I know who cares for orphaned kittens and other orphaned animals and I hope this will provide solace to the poor beings. 
 
Sources Used
Herzog, Hal. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It's So Hard to Think Straight About Animals. HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
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DeMello, Margo. Animals and Society - An Introduction to Human-Animal Studies. Columbia University Press, 2012.

“ThermaCELL Heat Packs Bluetooth Pocket Warmer by ThermaCELL at Fleet Farm.” Fleet Farm,www.fleetfarm.com/store/detail/thermacell-heat-packs-bluetooth-pocket-warmer/0000000251374/3500?gclid=Cj0KCQiA6JjgBRDbARIsANfu58G-t157f1p6_Pan5mMNZMhf_jWm2wXzfOjFx79WmG4dmjZT5Vu5Ki0aAtfeEALw_wcB.

Author Bio: Dani Morgan is a student is college who doesn’t quite know what she wants to be in life yet. But she does know that she enjoys animals and cares about them. She has had many dogs and cats and has cared for other non-human animals so that they could go back home.