The award-winning bloodhound may have been targeted by criminals due to his work seizing dogs used in fighting rings, according to an Italian MP.
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An Italian sniffer dog has been killed after eating sausages stuffed with nails, sparking outrage across the country and condemnation from Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Bruno, a seven-year-old bloodhound, received several awards for searching for missing and vulnerable people — including Alzheimer's patients — and helping to save nine lives.
He was found dead last week near Taranto, Puglia, having died from internal bleeding after sausages filled with nails were deliberately thrown into his kennel, according to his trainer Arcangelo Caressa.
In a Facebook post announcing Bruno's death, Caressa said: "Today I died with you. You fought for your whole life to help human beings, and it was humans who did this to you."
The trainer said the police and prosecutor's office had opened an investigation into the killing, and were reviewing CCTV footage from the surrounding area. Caressa said he knew who was responsible for Bruno's death and vowed to "make them pay for it".
Meloni — who once honoured Bruno with an award for his life-saving work — condemned the "vile, cowardly, unacceptable" killing in a post on X.
"Thank you for all you have done, Bruno," she wrote.
Italian lawmaker and animal rights campaigner Michela Vittoria Brambilla has urged the police to ensure those responsible for Bruno's death are "brought to justice".
She said in a post on Facebook that Bruno might have been targeted by criminals in a revenge attack because of his role in dismantling dog-fighting rings.
Brambilla was responsible for strengthening Italy's animal rights laws, under which anyone who kills an animal can face up to four years in prison and a fine of €60,000.
She said Bruno had "a horrible, long and very painful death", and at the "thought of such boundless ferociousness, one should be ashamed of being part of the human race."
"The culprit must be identified and the punishment prescribed by law should be applied. We owe it to this noble animal," Brambilla wrote on Facebook.