It wasn’t Fredo, it was Fido.
A spate of mysterious tire slashings in a small Italian village that had locals fearing it was the Mafia turned out to be a dog with gingivitis.
Residents in Vastogirardi, a tiny town in the Molise region of Southern Italy, started complaining of the bizarre vandalism in July, The Guardian reported.
In some cases, vehicles were targeted multiple times – leaving many people wondering whether the Mafia was behind the destruction.
“It has been very puzzling, as we couldn’t work out who could possibly be going around cutting trres, or what the motive would be,” Deputy Mayor Remo Scocchera said, according to the outlet.
“It is a peaceful village,” he added.
In late October, four villagers in the same neighborhood reported that their tires had been slashed, prompting police to conduct undercover patrols and install surveillance cameras, according to The Guardian.
The case was finally cracked last week, when the culprit was caught on camera: a dog named Billy. The pooch was filmed gnawing several tires in the village.
The masticating mongrel had a severe case of gingivitis, which made him bite the tires to relieve the pain, according to vets.
Police don’t intend to make Billy sleep with the fishes for his dental woes and are still investigating before taking official action against his owner, who will likely be made an offer he can’t refuse: compensate the car owners.
“It really became a problem – people were unable to drive to work because of the punctured tires, which cost a lot of money,” Scocchera said.
“Fortunately, it has now been resolved, and it’s a positive thing that the perpetrator wasn’t a person in the village,” he added.