Calls for police dogs to be "phased out" after animals injured in Southport riots

The use of police dogs should be phased out, Peta has told a top police boss after animals were "burned" and "hit with bricks" during widespread violence in the UK this summer.

The animal rights charity called for "safer, modern policing technology" to replace dogs and said "unlike human officers, they did not choose to enlist or put their lives on the line."

Merseyside Police dogs Ike and Zoe were "hit by bricks thrown by the unruly crowd" in Southport, Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) wrote in the letter to Sir Mark Rowley this week.

Zoe needed stitches after she suffered a cut to her leg during disorder involving hundreds of people on 30 July.

Mersey Police Dogs said Zoe was now "fit and well" but added it would "never ask our dogs to do something they no longer want to do".

PETA said Quga, a dog in the same force, was bitten and strangled while on duty in July and later burned on the back leg during the riots.

In Staffordshire, a dog called Vixen "sustained a gash on her right eye when a rioter hurled a brick at her", it added.

In a letter to the Met Police commissioner, the UK-based group said: "Over the years, we have also read reports of dogs who have been punched or kicked or whose eyes have been gouged during altercations.

"The risk of injury while working, dogs used by the police are vulnerable because too often their wellbeing comes second to other priorities.

"In June 2019, two dogs were left in a hot car for over two and a half hours while their handling officers underwent training, resulting in the collapse and death of a five-year-old Belgian Malinois named Ivy."

It added that the "continuous restocking" of police dogs is contributing to the UK's "already considerable homeless animal crisis" where more than 100,000 are without a home at any given time.

Hundreds of puppies are bred to be used by UK forces each year, with West Midlands Police alone holding 40 females and producing about 100 puppies annually, Peta claimed.

However, not all dogs are put to work by police.

Northumbria Police says on its website that many under 18 months old have "health conditions or behaviour needs" that prevent them from completing training, and they may "simply be better suited to life as a family pet with people who can provide the time, care and commitment they need".

Peta's vice president of programmes, Elisa Allen, who sent the letter, said: "Dogs in Britain's police forces never signed up to risk their lives but are being battered on the front lines of riots and left to bake to death in hot cars.

"Peta is urging the Metropolitan Police to end the use of dogs and adopt modern methods of maintaining law and order that don't subject animals to a lifetime of violence."

The Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police, Staffordshire Police, and West Midlands Police have been approached for comment.

Hear the latest news on Downtown on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.