The New York Fire Department (FDNY)’s $75,000 Dalmatian-spotted robot dog was sent to survey a collapsed parking garage in Manhattan but immediately fell over.
“Oh, that didn’t work out for the dog so well,” one onlooker can be heard saying in a now-viral video showing the robodog falling to its side just moments after entering the collapsed structure.
Watch Below:
The @FDNY robot dog on the scene. #fidi #garagecollapse pic.twitter.com/JAHc3abVsD
— DaDa Rocks! (@dadarocks) April 18, 2023
Social media users quickly took to the comment section to mock the FDNY’s robotic canine.
“I could have done that,” one Twitter user stated.
“The end was begging for the Price is Right losing airhorn,” another commented.
“Did real dogs go extinct or something?” another Twitter user asked.
“There goes half of the NYC public library budget,” another wrote.
Last year, the FDNY became the first fire agency in the United States to purchase Spot robodogs from the robotics company Boston Dynamics, which cost a staggering $75,000 each, according to multiple reports.
A few years ago, the New York Police Department (NYPD) planned to adopt Spot the robot dog for its police force but ended up scrapping its contract with Boston Dynamics after public outcry over authorities using a camera-carrying robodog for surveillance.
Last week, however, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that the NYPD will go ahead with its original plans and acquire some new semi-autonomous robot dogs in the coming weeks, according to a report by Wired.
“Digidog is out of the pound,” Mayor Adams said as he unveiled the robodogs alongside police chiefs during a press conference in Times Square.
Meanwhile, felony assaults on New Yorkers continue to rise across the Democrat-controlled city, specifically in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D)’s borough.
In 2022, violent crime in New York City rose 23 percent, with more than 126,500 arrests made for murder and non-negligent manslaughter, robbery, felony assault, rape, burglary, grand larceny, and grand larceny auto — the seven major crime categories.
Additionally, felony suspects are released without bail thanks to New York’s bail reform law, with over 72 percent of violent crime suspects going on to commit more crimes and being rearrested for more felonies.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.