News: “Sniffer” dog unmasked as serial tyre biter

A DOG that appeared to be sniffing the tyres of parked cars has been unmasked as a vandal after CCTV footage revealed it was instead puncturing them with its teeth.

For over six months the residents of Brampton, Cumbria, had endured ripped tyres at the hands of what they assumed were two-legged vandals. So upset were some of them that they had security cameras installed in a bid to catch the perpetrators.

But scrutiny of the images showed that the culprit was not a human with a screwdriver but a border collie with a sharp set of teeth.

The dog, subsequently identified as Jess, had been taking time out of her morning walk to attack the tyres. However, to throw any observers off the scent, the crafty canine had been pretending to sniff them.

PC Simon Amos of Cumbria Police said, “The dog had been approaching the cars and many believed she was just sniffing the tyres. It isn’t until you take a closer look [at the images] that you can see her biting them.”

So successful was Jess that her owner claimed to have no idea his dog was biting the tyres.

“The owner was surprised and very apologetic,” said PC Amos after collaring the culprit. “He will now be keeping Jess on a lead.”

He couldn’t confirm if Jess had been issued with a PCN (Penalty Canine Notice).