The muzzle for dogs looking for truffles is not a torture device - provided the dog is introduced gently.

According to a Facebook status post, truffle hunting dogs should only be let out of a cage for work

In addition, a “sadistic device in his mouth” is said to prevent him from eating the truffles.
However, the dog shown is doing very well and the muzzle protects him from potential poisoning.

This is about the following old status post on Facebook, about which we received further inquiries:

Screenshot by mimikama.org
Screenshot by mimikama.org

This dog's job is to sniff for truffles.
The sadistic device in his mouth is designed to stop him from eating the truffles.
They are kept in small cages = no walks, just “release” to “work”.

If your taste buds crave truffles:
Please question where the truffles you want to order and eat come from.
If you're not sure when you get an answer, don't eat it and educate yourself

The fact check

It is actually a truffle hunting dog. The Lagotto Romagnolo  has been used as a truffle hunter for centuries. The breed comes from Italy and is one of the most popular search dogs for these valuable mushrooms.

Marta Liberatoscioli is a veterinarian and is familiar with breeding lagottos. ( see here )

It describes a discussion that has been going on for a long time about muzzles when searching for truffles - especially in connection with the photo of the dog shown. There are also more photos of the dog in the article.

Liberatoscioli explains that the muzzle is a life-saving precaution for truffle dogs. Unfortunately, there are people in Italy who spread poisoned pieces of truffles. If a dog eats these baits, he will die in agony. The background for the perfidious actions of the poison spreaders: competition. Successful dogs should be killed and their owners thus gored.

Dogs that have been carefully introduced to the muzzle accept it like a collar or harness. Even if the dog cannot open its muzzle completely, it can still breathe well. This muzzle is mainly used in autumn/winter - when there are the finest truffles (and “therefore more crazy poisoners” [sic] ).

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Here she not only shows the dog at work, but also how it is kept. The photos can be traced back to a man named Francesco Palmiero . He still has some of the photos shown on his Facebook profile. However, he has already deleted the photos with the muzzle or no longer made them available to the public.

In any case, all photos show dogs doing a task, lying in bed or frolicking through water. At least the cage described does not exist for this Lagotto. ( see also here )

Conclusion:

This dog is not a tortured truffle hunting dog who only feels the forest floor under his feet to hunt truffles. This is a dog that is kept in a species-appropriate manner and is even allowed to go to bed.

Putting on the muzzle serves as a precautionary measure, as it often happens that poison is spread to eliminate competition.

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The photo was stolen and misused for personal purposes (e.g. like-baiting or provoking interaction on the Facebook page).

Of course, you can't rule out the possibility that somewhere in this world there are black sheep who don't treat their dogs well. This white Lagotto, however, leads a completely normal, if not quite good, dog's life.

Related to the topic: The automatic feeder for street dogs in Istanbul (fact check)

Other sources: dog balance , neXt , tipresentoilcane


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )