Man in Italy fined for training his dog to illegally dump waste

A fly-tipper in Sicily, Italy, has been fined after he reportedly trained his dog to dispose of waste at an illegal dumping site to avoid being spotted by security cameras, police have said. The incident came to light after Catania’s municipal police shared CCTV footage of the scene on the city’s official Facebook page, showing a small dog walking along Via Pulacara in the San Giorgio district with a bag of rubbish in its mouth before neatly dumping it at the illegal site.

In a statement, the municipal police’s environmental unit said surveillance cameras recorded two clear videos of the animal leaving rubbish on the street. Authorities noted that the behaviour appeared intentional, indicating the dog had likely been trained so its owner could avoid being caught on camera while illegally dumping waste.

“Inventiveness can never become an alibi for incivility,” the city of Catania said in a post on Facebook along with the footage that was filmed in the San Giorgio neighbourhood. “This is a scene which leaves little room for doubt: the animal has been trained to allow the owner to avoid being filmed while it abandons rubbish illegally. This behaviour is cunning but doubly wrong because, apart from dirtying the city and violating the rules, it exploits an unwitting four-legged friend," the city of Catania added.

Illegal dumping is common in Catania

Illegal dumping has become increasingly common in Catania following the introduction of door-to-door waste collection, where different materials are collected on separate days. Many residents reportedly find sorting waste too inconvenient and instead discard rubbish along roadsides at night.

To curb the practice, police have installed surveillance cameras and sifted through dumped waste to trace offenders using documents such as bills or receipts. During a recent enforcement drive, authorities identified and fined 39 violators, police said. Under Italian law, the unlawful disposal of waste, including ordinary household trash, can result in fines ranging from 1,500 euros to 18,000 euros, and may also carry criminal liability.