Dogs’ Death Police Case:

The law should maintain its own standards

- by Sally Ramage

The recent news that two German Shepherd police dogs died after being left in a car by their handler on a hot summer’s day was another example of slackness in the police forces. The dogs, two of 26 Nottinghamshire police dogs, were found dead in a police car parked outside the force’s headquarters in Arnold. All British police dogs, irrespective of the discipline they are trained in, must be licensed to work operationally. To obtain the license they have to pass a test at the completion of their training, and then again every year until they retire, which is usually at about the age of 8, when the majority settle into a life as a family pet with their handler. The standards required to become operational are laid down by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) sub-committee on police dogs and are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that training and licensing reflects the most appropriate methods and standards.

Britain is a nation of pet lovers, so the public found the news of the dogs’ deaths simply appalling. All pet lovers everywhere know that extra care must be taken, especially with older dogs, short-nosed dogs and those with thick coats, when transporting them in cars. Dogs can suffer sunburn and many people apply sunscreen on their dog’s nose and ear tips to help protect against this, especially for dogs with light-coloured noses or fur, as they are more vulnerable to sunburn and skin cancer.

The signs of heat exhaustion and heatstroke are easily recognisable and include heavy panting, glazed eyes, rapid pulse, unsteadiness, or a deep red or purple tongue. These conditions are very serious and in some cases may cause death. Warm weather can add up to 120 degrees in a car in a matter of minutes. The most important point, a point that one would have thought would have been immediately evident to a highly trained police dog handler, is that dogs cannot perspire and only dispel heat by panting and through the pads of their feet. So by leaving these police dogs in a locked, sealed car, this crass policeman caused the dogs to suffer from heat exhaustion, heatstroke, brain damage and eventually death. The case was made all the more remarkable because it was perpetrated by a handler supposedly dedicated to the health and wellbeing of the animals in his charge. For someone with this responsibility, leaving vulnerable animals to a fate that he would be very likely to arrest a member of the public for, is a stark reminder that the police often hold double standards. Had he left some suspects in the car in a similar way, he would surely have been charged with gross negligence, and possibly manslaughter.

Apart from the not inconsiderable cost of keeping police dogs and the cost and amount of time spent in intensive training of police patrol, this matter is simply inexcusable and shows the yawning gap in police procedures and policy. Around the country are hundreds of similar police dogs, yet there seems to have been no policy or procedure put in place for the safe transport of these animals, which ought to be covered under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.