The Oil Drum

172 comments on How the Energy Crisis Will Help My Diet

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Mad Maxout on July 18, 2006 - 8:36pm

What do you mean "no livestock" in cities? I live currently in an apartment where I'm one of 3 tenants with no livestock. The rest have head of livestock known as dogs. Carnivorous, they are very inefficient at converting waste food to meat, hence deterring their use as livestock per se.

While not useful as food, dogs, at least huskies, can be used as draft animals. With a suitable harness on the Siberian Husky and its user, the user wearing Rollerblades suddenly becomes one efficient animal-drawn vehicle with most of the mass being payload and "engine". This method of transportation is PERFECT if you work in a really pet friendly workplace. Use a backpack to haul small amounts of freight.

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TN Granny on July 18, 2006 - 10:38pm

Several dog breeds are quite useful as draft animals. St Bernards and Newfoundlands both can outpull a Husky. Saints regularly pull 10-12 times their own weight in pulling contests. This is around a ton of concrete blocks on a sled on dirt with no wheels! What's more they love to do it. Bernese and Greater Swiss are also traditionally used as draft animals.

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Mad Maxout on July 19, 2006 - 6:52pm

So, a St. Bernard is the dog to use as a draft animal. I suppose you could cut the dog's hair to compensate for summer heat. (any breed) In Illinois animal-propelled vehicles are legal without a license due to a small number of Amish types.

You'd still need a pet friendly workplace to "park" your dog by your desk. It sure wouldn't be nice if the workplace merely had a kennel as a "stable" as you work.

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Stoneleigh on July 19, 2006 - 8:20am

I have four huskies that pull a racing sled in the winter, which is a little like vehicle racing with the accelerator nailed to the floor. I wouldn't dream of using one to pull me on rollerblades in other seasons as that would be a recipe for broken bones, especially in the city. Using a scooter with one dog is much safer as the rider can jump off if necessary (by which I mean plant their feet on terra firma while still holding on to the scooter and attached dog). I wouldn't do it in a built-up area though - there are too many distractions that could cause a husky to shift direction abruptly. Training helps obviously, but even well-trained huskies have a mind of their own.

Huskies were bred for food-efficient pulling power and so could be very useful for getting around in winter if the roads were no longer plowed. (The inevitable falls hurt much less if one is landing on snow.) For summer pulling on rollerblades I'd recommend a breed which is more likely to have the word 'stop' in its mental vocabulary. Also, choosing a breed less likely to overheat in summer would be advisable. Huskies spend most of their time sleeping when it's hot.