Hounded: Woman calling for injured police dogs to get same rights as PCs
POLICE made an ‘intimidating’ phone call to a dog-lover after she launched a campaign calling for police animals to have the same status as officers if injured in the line of duty.
A senior official at Hertfordshire Constabulary rang student Johanna Bann out of the blue and said that the force wanted to see her Twitter account closed down.
It was opened last week to promote ‘Finn’s Law’, named after the police dog who, along with his handler PC Dave Wardell, was stabbed in Stevenage while chasing a suspect.
‘The call came from a woman in Hertfordshire Police’s communications department,’ said Ms Bann, 24.
‘She was calling to scold me. I was accused of contacting officers and acting inappropriately.
‘The call quickly became, in my opinion, intimidating. It became apparent I was under suspicion. Was I an activist? A blogger? A student? She wanted to know what exactly my motives were.
‘I was questioned about whether I had contacted MPs. Was I doing it for money? All I wanted to do was help stop police dogs being classified as property. It was bizarre.’
Ms Bann opened the Twitter account with the blessing of PC David Burstow, who days earlier had set up a petition on an official Government website proposing that police animals should be ‘given protection that reflects their status if assaulted in the line of duty’. The idea was that the Twitter account would help attract support for the campaign.
‘I thought I could offer David some advice about how to do things online. After offering my help, which was gladly accepted, I set up the official Twitter account @FinnsLaw,’ said Ms Bann, from York.
‘Within eight hours, we had more than 10,000 signatures. We now have 45,000.’
But the runaway success of the campaign – supported by MPs, officers of all ranks, and Gulf War veteran John Nichol – alarmed Hertfordshire Police. The force said it could not be seen to endorse a political campaign, yet PC Burstow was one of its own officers. ‘I just could not understand why Herts were not fully supportive,’ said Ms Bann.
‘Everyone from bobbies to chief constables has publicly supported the campaign – everyone except Herts.
‘It was not done to make anyone look bad but to try to stop police dogs and horses being classified as property.’
The petition calls for people who attack police animals to face charges similar to those for attacking a person.
A teenager has been charged with criminal damage over the dog attack. German shepherd Finn was stabbed in the head and chest, and PC Wardell suffered a hand injury in the incident. The seriously in injured dog underwent four h hours of emergency surgery and is now recovering at home with PC Wardell.
Herts Police said in a statement: ‘It is perfectly legitimate for us to ensure the identity and understand the motives of anyone becoming actively involved with the Constabulary on such a high-profile matter and offering their services.
‘Anything to help promote the safety of members of the police family should be looked at positively. However, ultimately the decision on legislative change is a matter for the Government.
‘We would support legislation that offered an effective mechanism for reducing the likelihood of officers and their dogs being subject to assault and injury.’