Automotive theft has reached epidemic proportions over the last few years, forcing drivers to spend hundreds of dollars welding heavy steel plates over their exhaust systems. But sometimes, the absolute best security system doesn’t require complex engineering or a monthly subscription. It just requires kibble. In a wildly satisfying piece of security footage, one aspiring mechanic learned the hard way that you should always check the yard for a guard dog before sliding under a truck.
According to the timestamp on the black-and-white security camera footage, the attempted theft took place in the dead of night, just after 2:14 AM. A thief dressed in dark clothing is seen lying flat on his back underneath an older model pickup truck, working to remove the exhaust part.
Right next to him on the concrete sits a power saw and what appears to be a severed muffler or catalytic converter. It looks like a textbook, quick-hit theft that was about to result in an easy payday. But the thief was completely unaware of the homeowner’s aggressive four-legged perimeter defenses.
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Enter the ‘Fur Missile’
Without any warning, two large dogs – which appear to be a German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois – lunge straight at the thief from the darkness under the truck. The element of surprise is incredibly satisfying.
The video shows the thief immediately abandoning the heist in sheer panic as the dogs snap at his legs. He violently kicks his feet to fend off the animals while frantically scrambling out from underneath the vehicle. The dogs aggressively pursue him, chasing the terrified would-be thief right out of the camera’s frame into the night.
In his desperation to escape the good boys, the thief left his expensive power tool and the freshly cut exhaust pipe sitting uselessly in the driveway. We highly doubt this guy will be returning to that specific driveway anytime soon.
The True Cost of Catalytic Converter Theft in the US
While this particular thief walked away empty-handed, most drivers aren’t so lucky. Catalytic converter theft hit a massive peak in 2022, with insurance giant State Farm reporting 45,000 claims that resulted in a staggering $115.4 million in payouts.
According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the national theft rate skyrocketed by over 1,000% between 2018 and 2020 alone. Even though national theft rates dropped by roughly 83% by 2024, recent data suggests the crime wave is rebounding aggressively in 2025 and 2026. This fluctuation is driven entirely by the black-market value of the precious metals found inside the exhaust components, such as rhodium, palladium, and platinum.
