Dog who saved 9 people was killed with sausages with nails

Caressa found Bruno at the training center of the canine unit of the National Democratic Entity for Social Action – ENDAS, in Taranto with internal bleeding caused by the nails that were inside the sausages.

In an interview with the regional newspaper Corriere dello Mezzogiorno, the coach said that most of the people saved by the sniffer were “people with Alzheimer's disease who had gotten lost in the countryside after leaving home”. “In 2020, he also contributed to the discovery of Diego, the four-year-old boy found dead in the Bradano river [in the south of the country]”, he also recalled.

The case reached Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who said it was “heartbreaking news”. “ A vile, cowardly and unacceptable act . Thank you for everything you did, Bruno,” the leader wrote on the social network X.

A news that is stringent to the core. An act vile, cowardly, unacceptable.

Thank you for all this, Bruno. pic.twitter.com/e5eSpPzQJ4

— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) July 5, 2025

Caressa, speaking to the Italian newspaper Il Messagiero , claimed to know who killed Bruno. However, according to him, “the real target” was not the sniffer dog, but himself .

According to Corriere della Sera , the coach has already filed a complaint with the authorities with the names of two people who have made threats to him in recent weeks and the police have already collected the video surveillance images from the training center .

“Now I want to see the culprit behind bars,” added Caressa, who points to her work with authorities as a possible reason.

“In addition to my work with Bruno searching for missing people, I also train canine units for the police and have helped seize mistreated animals destined for illegal fighting,” he explained to Corriere dello Mezzogiorno. “ I make enemies every day. This could be a clue ,” he concluded.

L'hanno ucciso con un boccone pieno di chiodi. Il sospetto di una vendetta dietro la morte di #Bruno , il cane eroe que a Taranto ha salvato 9 persone e ricevuto varia riconoscimenti, tra i quali un premio dalla Presidente del Consiglio Giorgia #Meloni che oggi scrive: “Atto vile”. pic.twitter.com/ylinNTB3rm

— Tg1 (@Tg1Rai) July 7, 2025

Along the same lines, MP Michela Vittoria Brambilla, an animal rights defender and founder of the Italian League for the Defense of Animals and the Environment (LEIDAA), followed suit. The activist believes that criminals linked to dog fighting networks may have killed Bruno, given his support.

On Instagram, she lamented that the hero dog had been sentenced to “a horrible, long and painful death due to internal bleeding” and demanded that the police take action. “I ask the police to do everything they can to bring the person responsible for Bruno’s death to justice,” she said in a statement from LEIDAA.