Robot Dog owner posts bounty to find woman that kicked mechanised pet


A robot dog looking directly at the camera

Despite being commercially available, robot dogs are still rather rare. Yes, they’re found in the military, at Pompeii even at the US border, but not that many people own a robot dog.

Nevertheless, one robot dog owner has already found trouble with his mechanical companion. After taking his robotic pet out for a walk, an Australian man’s faithful buzzing-bud was abused by a random woman, and he wants to find them.

Australian robot dog owner Mark Trueno took his mechanical companion known as Stampy on a walk through Fortitude Valley. However, the walk quickly soured when his robot was attacked not once, but twice, by complete strangers.

During the walk through Australia’s bustling nightlife city, Stampy was kicked in the head by a woman. However, 45-minutes later, the same woman returned with a second kick ready for the artificial pup.

After the incidents, Trueno put up a $500 bounty for the name of the woman who assaulted Stampy. The woman’s friend, who was with her that night, immediately reached out to reveal her identity. At the time of writing, Trueno is thinking of giving the reward bounty to a shelter for abused animals.

Trueno took the dog on a walk to test the technology. The $15,000 military-grade robot was taken out to trial its obstacle avoidance and 3D mapping technology. Unfortunately, the damage Stampy suffered resulted in that data being lost.

The damages are estimated at around $2,500. However, Trueno doesn’t know if he will charge the assaulter for the damages considering the cost.

“She has offered to….but I am undecided what to do in that regard yet,” the robot dog owner told Vice. “He's pretty sturdy… [but] gave him a good pump.”

Outside of testing, Trueno does use the robot dog for more personal activities, cementing the machine as part of the family. In fact, Stampy oftentimes takes Chairman Meow, Trueno’s real-life cat, out for a walk to the park.

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