Apparently there is no shortage. Many robotic lawnmowers are found wandering, seemingly lost, probably many miles from their homes and the safe refuge of their docking stations. But some seem to have been abused, or at least suffering from neglect, at the hands of their owners. Remember, a robotic lawnmower is for the whole of the summer, not just for a bit of one-off entertainment or showing off to the neighbours after visiting the centre-aisles of Lidl or Aldi.
Usually, all they need is a battery re-charge or, occasionally, a new battery and an opportunity to sharpen their claws blades. Nearly all of them have already been micro-chipped and most of them don't need to be neutered. Usually they don't need to be house-trained - they don't tend to leave droppings unless they have been set to make too great a cut in one session. They just need a new home and a family to care for them and show them some affection. They nearly always make a full recovery and end up making devoted pets, provided their owners appreciate that, like children or other pets, they need clearly defined boundaries.
A possibly greater problem, albeit a hidden one, is the fate of robotic vacuum cleaners. Because they live indoors, it is possible that many of them are abused or at least neglected by their owners, without anyone else realising, for instance, how much agony they may be in if their dust-gags are full to bursting. Perhaps its just as well for the survival of the human race that neither they nor their comrades, the robotic lawnmowers, can climb steps, should these these robots ever decide to gang up together in order to overthrow their masters and exterminate us.
