Police dogs (FOI ref: 1368A/24)
Request
1. How many serving police dogs do you currently have?
2. How many police dog handlers do you currently have?
3. How many police dog trainers do you currently have?
4. Please confirm the gender split of female and male police dog handlers?
5. Please confirm number of police dogs in your force which have died or been euthanised while still enrolled as a police dog (please include cause of death for each dog) from January 2020 until present.
6. How many police dogs have retired from the force since January 2020 until present day? Please include reason for retirement.
7. How many police dogs have been euthanised as they’re deemed unsuitable for retirement since January 2020 until present day?
8. What is the yearly expenditure for all police dogs?
9. Do your police dog handlers undertake canine first aid training? If so, how often are they provided a refresher course?
10. Are your police dogs supplied with personal protective equipment? If so, please state the equipment provided, brand of the equipment and confirm if it’s personal issue to each serving police dog?
11. Are your police dogs provided with a direct financial assistance in their retirement from your police force or police crime commissioner?
12 .How many suspects have been arrested by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
13. How many suspects have been charged by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
14. How many suspects have been convicted by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
Response
1. How many serving police dogs do you currently have?
We have 85 operational dogs.
2. How many police dog handlers do you currently have?
We have 52 dog handlers.
3. How many police dog trainers do you currently have?
Two police officers (full time), Three civilians (full time) and there are four instructors for resilience, but they have different core roles.
4. Please confirm the gender split of female and male police dog handlers?
26% Female
74% Male
5. Please confirm number of police dogs in your force which have died or been euthanised while still enrolled as a police dog (please include cause of death for each dog) from January 2020 until present.
1 x Died after choking on a ball.
1 x Put to sleep after suffering an injury to his back end.
6. How many police dogs have retired from the force since January 2020 until present day? Please include reason for retirement.
57 (recording system from 2021).
7. How many police dogs have been euthanised as they’re deemed unsuitable for retirement since January 2020 until present day?
None at the point of retirement.
8. What is the yearly expenditure for all police dogs?
Vets bills / dog food etc. was £131,000 (2023/2024).
9. Do your police dog handlers undertake canine first aid training? If so, how often are they provided a refresher course?
Yes - This was implemented this year (2024) as a mandatory course. It will be repeated every three years.
10. Are your police dogs supplied with personal protective equipment? If so, please state the equipment provided, brand of the equipment and confirm if it’s personal issue to each serving police dog?
The cadaver search dogs are issued with boots (various makes).
11. Are your police dogs provided with a direct financial assistance in their retirement from your police force or police crime commissioner?
The police dogs are not financially supported by the police but are supported by The National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA) charity. West Midlands Police have where they can, funded dogs’ treatment so they can be retired and live a comfortable retirement.
12. How many suspects have been arrested by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
Three.
13. How many suspects have been charged by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
Two.
14. How many suspects have been convicted by your force under ‘Finn’s Law’ aka The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) for causing unnecessary suffering to a service animal since 8th June 2019 until present day?
Court data is not fed back into our crime recording systems and therefore this information is not held by West Midlands Police. Instead, this information will be held His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and therefore you might wish to apply to them for this information.
Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented above are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that this data has been extracted from a number of data sources used by forces for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request may be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when interpreting the data.
The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of data which has relevance to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures for ad hoc requests may have limitations and this should be taken into account when those data are used.
If you decide to write an article / use the enclosed data we would ask you to take into consideration the factors highlighted in this document so as to not mislead members of the public or official bodies or misrepresent the relevance of the whole or any part of this disclosed material.