Italian authorities have opened a criminal investigation after Bruno, a nationally recognised police bloodhound, was found dead on 4 July in his kennel in Taranto. His trainer, Arcangelo Caressa, said the seven-year-old dog died from internal bleeding after eating sausages packed with nails that had been thrown over a fence. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the killing as “vile, cowardly, unacceptable,” while animal-rights campaigner and lawmaker Michela Vittoria Brambilla filed a formal complaint under new legislation that stiffens penalties for animal cruelty. The so-called Brambilla law, which took effect on 1 July, provides for up to four years in prison and a €60,000 fine; investigators are treating the case as a deliberate act of torture. Bruno, who weighed about 88 kg, assisted in nine search-and-rescue operations during his career, locating five people alive and four who had died. Caressa—who runs the volunteer rescue group ENDAS and has worked to shut down illegal dog-fighting rings—told prosecutors he had recently received death threats and believes the attack was meant to intimidate him. He has supplied investigators with the names of two suspects as the search for Bruno’s killers continues.