Police dogs get bulletproof armour and own ID cards
POLICE dogs are being issued with bulletproof body armour and ID cards as a result of new animal welfare laws designed to protect them from increasing violence by criminals.
Staffordshire is among the first police forces to provide all its dogs with body armour to protect them from knives, bullets, spikes and impact from blunt instruments.
Cheshire police has also issued its dogs with ID cards and individual tags to make them “part of the police team” as well as body armour.
It follows the introduction of Finn’s Law in 2019 which made it a criminal offence to harm a service dog with a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
Finn, a German shepherd, was stabbed in the head and chest as it protected Pc Dave Wardell from a knifewielding robbery suspect in Stevenage, Herts.
The legislation makes it harder for those who harm service animals to claim they are acting in self-defence. Under previous legislation, the attack on Finn could only be treated as criminal damage.
Chief Insp Dave Kelsall, head of Staffordshire armed/dog support unit, said: “Police dogs are part of our policing family, one of the team, and as such should be seen and valued the same as our police officers. This is why Staffordshire police, along with our national colleagues, gave our police dogs collar numbers.
“Providing personal issue body armour is the next step to ensuring we protect our dogs who face the same danger as our police handlers.
“In fact, they are even more likely to be the first ones running towards the threat. They now have the same level of protection in order to reduce the risk of serious injury, or worse, being killed in the line of duty.”
The custom-made, lightweight armour comes in different sizes and has a material in its lining that was originally designed for space suits to dissipate the heat away from the dog’s body.
Forces have been trialling armour for durability, protection and ease of movement for the dogs.
There are estimated to be more than 2,500 police dogs at UK police forces, with the Belgian malinois the most popular breed for general purpose work.
All British police dogs, irrespective of the discipline they are trained in, must be licensed to work operationally.
To obtain the licence they have to pass a test on the completion of their training, and then again every year until they retire, which is usually at about the age of eight.