Niantic Labs’ Pokemon GO continues to impact our everyday lives, for better or worse. Unfortunately, the latest report from the United Kingdom mostly pertains to the latter. Namely, a group of Pokemon GO players threatened a dog of another player after he refused to drop a Lure Module for them. As revealed by Reddit user Stolen_Insanity, he was recently walking his husky and playing the popular augmented reality (AR) game when he was harassed by a group of about eight teenagers, aged 16 to 18. After the teenagers noticed he was playing the game, they approached him and asked him to drop a Lure Module for them so as to attract Pokemon. After he refused, the group surrounded him and started threatening to kick his dog if he doesn’t drop the Lure Module. Luckily, the situation was seemingly resolved without violence. “I would have loved to tear these guys apart but decided to just walk away. I’d never put my dog in danger. But seriously, what a bunch of a*s-hats,” revealed Stolen_Insanity on Reddit.
The unfortunate husky owner believes that he is extremely lucky to have managed to avoid conflict, especially considering his dog was getting agitated with obviously hostile people surrounding them. He also revealed that he’s a teacher whose career would have definitely been in jeopardy if he got into a physical confrontation with a bunch of minors. Finally, he urged other players to learn from his example and stay vigilant while playing Pokemon GO.
While there’s no way of confirming this story, it wouldn’t be the first time Niantic Labs’ hit mobile game brought out the worst in people. Just yesterday, a couple from Arizona were arrested under accusations of child negligence and endangerment after their child was found in their courtyard, screaming, sweaty, and dirty and they were out catching Pokemon. Other than that, the hit AR game was already connected to numerous robberies, altercations, and other real-life incidents. Experts claim that Pokemon GO addiction can have an identical effect on people’s brains as drugs and are urging players to be cautious and play the game in moderation.