A Call to Design Robopets to be More Like Service Animals

Robopets have been a huge help for seniors in care homes. These artificial pups provide companionship without being high maintenance for the elderly. They also help caregivers feel at ease knowing those they look after are happy with a robotic cat or dog.

The problem is, they are programmed to be pets only and don’t benefit people with specific needs. Another issue is that service animals aren’t affordable to many due to the cost of training even just one dog.

So that opens the idea of programming a robopet to be a service animal. Imagine that. A robotic service animal that doesn’t need water or food to function. Minimal or no training is even required. The best part of it all is that a robotic service animal won’t be distracted when it’s near other animals or robots.

Some may argue that this idea removes the emotional bond between humans and dogs. For others, this argument is the same for owning a self-driving car. If you’ll allow a machine to drive you around, you can also allow a machine to do your dog’s job. What are your thoughts on this?

Source: THE CONVERSATION

Do you own an assistance animal? Register your pet today. 

The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.

Finally, we present to you our book entitled, “ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS” to provide you with a complete education on assistance animals.

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