Typically, truffles are foraged in the wild with a truffle hunter and their companion dog, trained to seek out the scent of the fungi; however, competition has made this practice dangerous, with competing hunters sabotaging their enemies, reports The New York Times.
To protect areas that tend to be rich in truffle growth, hunters have taken to poisoning their enemy’s dogs.
“There are hundreds of dogs killed a year,” said Mr. Tomassetti, who is also the honorary president of the Lazio region’s truffle hunter association, which he said had angered locals by fighting the town’s attempts to prevent outsiders from seeking truffles in its hills. “It happens all over Italy.”
This violence is particularly common in Abruzzo, a central Italian region. Here, the violence has even extended to civilian casualties because of poisoned wells and fields. Locals in the area worry both about the lives of themselves and their animals as well as the image of their home.
The earning potential of a trained truffle dog has forced truffle hunters to exercise extreme secrecy when disclosing personal information about themselves and their dogs. Full Story (Subscription Required)
Related: Lost Spirits Offers a Jules Verne-Inspired Dining Experience; Industry Voices: How Specialty Food Stakeholders Innovate