# Truffle Hunters Poison Each Other's Dogs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truffle-hunters-poison-each-others-dogs/978318>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 16, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truffle-hunters-poison-each-others-dogs/978318 "2023-01-16T17:25:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truffle-hunters-poison-each-others-dogs/978318/1 "2023-01-16T17:25:31Z")

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Apparently a bunch of papers are doing this story right now, including:

> **[Truffle hunters in Italy are poisoning their competitors' dogs with snail...](https://www.businessinsider.com/italian-truffle-hunters-black-gold-poison-sniffing-dogs-italy-2023-1)**
>
> The poisoning of truffle-sniffing dogs using snail bait and strychnine has been a method for reducing competition among foragers for decades.

> **[Hunting for Truffles Is a Perilous Pursuit, Especially for the Dogs Who Dig](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/14/world/europe/italy-truffles-dogs.html)**
>
> Truffles are big business, and some are trying to take out the competition by poisoning the dogs that accompany those known as “truffle hunters.”

> **[Dogs Pay the Price in Italian Truffle War](https://www.wsj.com/articles/dogs-pay-the-price-in-italian-truffle-war-11671367338)**
>
> The delicacy has never been more lucrative for hunters, fueling a rivalry that sometimes turns deadly for their specially trained hounds.

But this is not new, here is a story from a quarter-century ago saying the same thing:

> **[Truffle Hunt Turns Deadly for Dogs](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-19-mn-55377-story.html)**
>
> Italy: As prices rise, canines that sniff out the delicacies are being poisoned, presumably to increase take of the killer.

But I don’t understand this. If the goal is to eliminate competition, how do the poisoners not kill their own dogs?

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truffle-hunters-poison-each-others-dogs/978318/2 "2023-01-16T17:28:37Z")

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> [@tofor](#):
>
> But I don’t understand this. If the goal is to eliminate competition, how do the poisoners not kill their own dogs?

I assume they know where they planted the poison.

Seems like a lot of grief for something that to me is barely discernible in taste from dirt.

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/truffle-hunters-poison-each-others-dogs/978318/3 "2023-01-16T18:24:40Z")

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This is the definition of “Dick Move”.