My girlfriend has spent a number of years working as a volunteer at a local pet shelter. While she’s seen a ton of tragic stories regarding pets dropped off and left at their doors, she’s also had the joy of experiencing a lot of good stories as well. Most recently what appeared to her as a full blooded Bernese Mountain Dog was brought in by animal control.

Apparently the bad economy had forced a local family out of their home and into foreclosure. With so many similar situations, the family simply left the animal, choosing to see it only as a liability. When the mountain dog came in, my girlfriend got on the phone calling the watch list.

Within half a day, there were two families that were vying over this wonderful pet. It was good to hear her tell the story.

One of the very fist dogs that came in when she started volunteering was a gruff looking but completely huggable Boston Terrier. I’ve always thought they were sort of ugly dogs, and to me, this one was no exception.

Like most well bred and trained dogs, however, this dog was a wonderful little creature to be around. Oh, did I mention that after my girlfriend moved in with me a few months later, our household ended up being a total of three individuals? Her, me, and well, you know, Ugly Dog!

They say that necessity is the mother of invention. If you take a look at the history of inventions, you will see that this is only partially true. There are many things that have been invented purely because the inventor was curious. However, there are also a lot of things that were invented out of the need for something new. The most common case in which we see this is that an industry will change or grow in some way and this growth will be quickly followed by a new invention that makes the industry’s work easier to do.

An example of this might be seen when you look at the history of body modification. There was a time when Western body modification was limited to tattoos and piercings. Today, we see that there are advanced piercings, branding and the implantation of various shaped materials under the skin. New tools had to be invented to perform these new procedures. People in this industry had a desire to see the industry change. In order to be able to make those changes, new technology had to be invented.

Body modification isn’t the only industry where this has occurred. People who work in dirt screening plants now use a gravel screening machine that didn’t exist before there was a need for it in the industry. People who work on assembly lines now have new tools available to them to make their jobs simpler. Wherever there is a changing industry, there is an invention waiting to happen.