PREVIEW

BY MARK WORGAN

A man in Sicily has been fined after training his dog to illegally dump rubbish by a popular roadside fly-tipping spot.

Catania’s problems with fly-tipping led the council to install security cameras to combat the crime - but one man apparently came up with a cunning canine ruse in the hope of evading detection.

On Thursday (19February2026) officials shared videos of the dog walking down the road carrying a bag of rubbish in its mouth and then dropping it by the side of the road.

In a statement, Catania city officials wrote: “Ingenuity can never become an alibi for incivility.”

They added: “The environmental department of the Local Police of Catania has released two videos recorded by surveillance cameras in Via Pulacara, in the San Giorgio neighborhood, in which a dog can be seen dumping a bag of rubbish on the road. A scene that leaves little room for doubt: the animal allegedly was trained to prevent the owner from being caught throwing away the trash irregularly.”

They also accused the man, who has reportedly been identified and fined of exploiting an “unwitting four-legged friend” to do his dirty work.