The people of Vastogirardi, a town of 600 souls in the south of Italy, have finally solved the mystery of a series of flat tires over the last few months – a local dog with a bad case of gingivitis.

It all started in July of this year when the quiet town of Vastogirardi was faced with its first intentional tire puncture case in many years. The owner of a car left parked in Piazza Giusto Girardi found it with a punctured tire and called the carabinieri, but after an inspection of the surrounding area and a brief investigation, no suspects were identified. By the end of October, a handful of similar tire puncture complaints had been registered, all of which occurred in the town square. Rumors of rows between neighbors and even intimidation attempts by the Mafia started going around, but in the end, the true cause of the punctures proved even more surprising.

Photo: Denny Muller/Unsplash

The mystery of the punctured tires became such a big deal in Vastogirardi that the Command of the Carabinieri Company of Agnone started organizing surveillance services with personnel in civilian clothes in Piazza Giusto Girardi, hoping to catch the culprit in the act. However, their attempt at solving the mystery proved fruitless, as no more punctured tires were reported.

The Investigative Unit of the Carabinieri of Isernia came to the aid of their local comrades and installed surveillance cameras in the square of Vastogirardi. They only needed a few days to finally catch the culprit in the act, but it wasn’t who, or what they expected. It turned out that the punctured tires were the work of Bily, the large dog of one of the victims.

The dog was caught on camera gnawing on a car’s tire and front bumper, and its owner admitted that he had been suffering from gingivitis for some time, adding that she did not know about his nocturnal adventures. Be that as it may, the woman will now have to compensate the other motorists for the damage caused by Bily.