--- title: "Volunteers Tracking Lost Dog Baffled When Locals Trash Thermal Imaging Drone" description: "A $7,000 thermal imaging drone was destroyed, as it grows even more difficult to tell a friendly drone from a harmful one." date: "2026-08-09" modified: "2026-08-09" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/animal-dog-rescue-volunteers-drone-trashed-vandalism" categories: - "Drones" - "Future Society" - "Privacy" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" --- # Volunteers Tracking Lost Dog Baffled When Locals Trash Thermal Imaging Drone ![A color-treated photo of a drone that has been damaged.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* In a time of rising skepticism against tech surveillance, it seems not even the best intentions can spare you from backlash. That's a lesson some good samaritans in Los Vegas learned the hard way, after a thermal imaging drone they were using to track a runaway dog was trashed by a group of unidentified vandals. According to [to Las Vegas station *FOX5*](), the volunteer animal rescue group Paws Patrol LV has been scrambling to replace a $7,000 camera drone after it suddenly went offline while tracking an injured dog. "For the past couple of days, we've been searching for a dog we believe was hit by a car," the group wrote in a [post on Facebook](). "We searched on foot, but the vegetation was simply too dense to see through with flashlights. So we launched our thermal drone... one of the most valuable rescue tools we've ever owned." "Less than a minute after it took off," the post continues, "a group of unhoused individuals knocked it out of the sky, smashed it, and threw it into the water." The animal-rescue group wasn't left empty-handed for long, however, as a business owner from Montana chipped in to donate a brand new thermal imaging drone, per an update on the original post. While it would be easy to blame a group of unwashed Luddites for the damage, it's important to keep in mind that the true identity of the vandal or vandals remains unknown. If the vandals really are homeless, as Paws Patrol LV volunteers suggest, then their aversion to strange drones makes sense — elsewhere, surveillance drones have been deployed by police officers to [clear homeless camps](), while private citizens have used drones to [drop dog feces]() on homeless populations struggling to survive. And one doesn't necessarily have to be homeless to have an aversion to the growing number of surveillance drones surfing our skies. In some parts of the US, malicious operators have used drones to [harass random suburbanites]() and [poach wildlife](), while insurance adjusters are increasingly conducting [secretive drone flights]() to find excuses to penalize homeowners and sometimes even [drop customers]() altogether. While we hope the dog gets found, the episode underscores a larger point: the skies have become a contested space, with drone operators both benevolent and vindictive jockeying for control — not just of the airspace itself, but over how their drones are perceived. **More on drones:** *[We're Admittedly Terrified That They've Now Invented Invisible Drones]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()