Jess RoseFeb 22
Coin operated vending machines dispensing kibble for streetcats are my favourite shared infrastructure discovery this week.
Show threadTobias Schächtelin
@jessie I have never seen such a machine, definitely not in Germany. Do they exist also elsewhere than Istanbul?
Feb 22 at 2:32pmTusky
Show threadCarina C. ZonaFeb 22
@tschach they're in Malta too, though typically you put your plastic deposit bottles in as payment instead of cash. Streets are cleaner, kitties (and other wildlife) get fed.
Show threadTobias SchächtelinFeb 22
@cczona 🥰
Show threadRobFeb 22
@cczona where in Malta do the BCRS machines dispense cat food? @tschach
Show threadCarina C. ZonaFeb 22
@robchapman I saw them on Gozo. iirc the machines also raised money for the local animal shelter.
Show threadRobFeb 22
@cczona Ah they're not specifically for cat food, sadly. However many cat feeders collect BCRS vouchers to buy food for the strays, or for the cat sanctuaries. Before the country tightened its rules on money laundering, charity shops collected for the cats, now there are barely any charity shops as they all became registered thrift shops overnight which cut off a vital source of revenue for the people who voluntarily feed the strays here.
Show threadCarina C. ZonaFeb 22
@robchapman this was 2 years ago but the one by my home definitely dispensed food. I was startled by how big the cascade was.
Show threadRobFeb 22
@cczona It's likely still there then.
Show threadCarina C. ZonaFeb 22
@robchapman to be clear, it's not the municipal machines. They're alternative, smaller, and I _think_ donation only. I think the internals were only collecting the bottles for the charity to redeem, not shredding like the municipal machines. The one near my home was 15-20m from a cluster of municipal machines.
Show threadRobFeb 22
@cczona sounds like it was a bottle drop to collect bottles, and then someone did the BCRS redeeming. It's a good idea, I've never seen bottle drop bins on Malta, but that's probably because people literally sift through other people's rubbish bags looking for redeemable bottles. I like that they want people to recycle bottles, but the scheme has simply created a raft of other problems
Show threadCarina C. ZonaFeb 22
@robchapman locked bottle drop, but also kibble dispenser. The ferals in the neighborhood knew to watch anyone lingering near it, and converged on the freshly dispensed kibble as soon as you withdrew far enough to not be a threat anymore. Though the design seemed a bit flawed to me. It just dumped a bunch of kibble into an open bin that was exposed to the weather. So potentially dumping it on top of moldy food. One hopes the bin is scrubbed frequently.