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Just thought I would use this case as a warning to you dog owners in case you hadn't thought about it before. This case in which two police dogs were left in a vehicle and died is a good example of how even the most responsible of dog carers can make this mistake.

Please take care. Even with a window left partially open a dog can over heat. Just not worth it. Take your dog out with you (perhaps on a walk) or leave it at home or with someone. You wouldn't leave a baby in a sealed vehicle whould you?!

Sorry to preach, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Our local Police dog handlers have Ford focus estate cars with "refrigeration modules" in the back (a sort of uprated aircon) and extra battery for power. The Gwent Police dogs are some of the "coolest" in the country! They are certainly cooler than the ambient temperatures when they leave them running!

 Don't know what vehicles Notinghamshire Police use, but I would hazzard a guess, not as sophisticated as some these days.

Horrible, poor dogs.

 I like the sound of the "refrigeration modules", I use a slightly cheaper system for when I have to leave my dog in the car......

plenty of shade and more ventilation than you can wag your tail at, Good old Ifor Williams.

!

Wayne T wrote (see)

Allegedly the dogs were in a 'private' vehicle

Yes, the handler was off duty.

Temp in the area was nearly 30°C.

Damned pillock!

The dog handlers in our force do!

In fact, when these current batch of Focuses come up for aution, I wouldn't mind bidding for one, would be ideal for you Wayne!

I read one comment on a news article that said something like... "another example of the police not looking after their equipment".

WTF!

Since when have dogs been a piece of equipment? If the police handlers ever treated dogs as just another piece of equipment I doubt they would last long as police dog handlers.

Now I understand police dogs have to be working dogs then family dogs so surely if the officer has to take care of the dogs while working don't they have a personal responsibility to do the same on their own time. Isn't that part of the job commitment? I find it irrelevant if the officer was off duty as far as the animals' welfare the officer is never off duty and if he doesn't think like that then he is in the wrong role at Nottinghamshire constabulary.

My only relief is that the police force have reported the incident to IPCC and the RSPCA. Although the cynical among you will say that if they hadn't Joe public would have in their droves. I wonder if we will hear any more about it?

It's made worse by the fact that this is a professional dog handler working in the police, with presumably a reasonable level of intelligence. The dogs would have stood a greater chance of survival running around on a motorway.

I understand your sentiment TtoG but that unfortunately is the legal status of dogs  in the UK, they are the "property" of the owners, in this case the Police Service and thereby by extension they are classed as equipment.

I don't know if you remember the case of Saxon two or three years ago where the handler attempted to stop his force putting him down as a dog that was too agressive for Police work, by offering to adopt him?

The force refused but because of the publicity, his "death sentance" was reprieved and he was sold on to the security industry, but they would NOT release the dog into the care of the handler.

I undertand that the handler has since resigned for "health reasons!"

Does anyone know how military dogs are treated?

Does it seem to you that different forces have a different idea of the level of care these police dogs should be expected to have? Although I would like to think that this case was just a momentary lapse in the police officer's judgement, but still it should have consequences for him / her. I do not think a jail sentence is appropriate though that could well be considered a consequence if the investigation concludes that it was a serious offence as has been stated above and in various news articles on the matter. I guess we wil have to see.

If anyone from the Nottingham area hears of the outcome, perhaps from the local newspaper, can you post on here? I do think it is one of those news items that will disappear and no further news will come out about the investigations into the matter.

Not long ago, a 'member of the public' was prosecuted for exactly the same thing.

I wonder what will happen here?

Well said Wayne... A working dog is a breed apart, it often has to be many things to many people. I expect a meeting with one of your dogs in active duty is most welcome indeed. Of course I hope to never meet him/her, no offence. BTW I am down in Brecons about the 25th/26th July, that's your patch isn't it? Just givving you a heads up as I don't know if the lass leading the walk while we're down there has good navigations skills.

Good point Mike, will there be hypocrisy involved in this case? Will we ever find out what happened. Reckon it was a slow news day that let this one out and it will need a very slow news day for us to find out if any sanctions were applied.

Dan Y Rheolaeth Newydd wrote (see)

I understand your sentiment TtoG but that unfortunately is the legal status of dogs  in the UK, they are the "property" of the owners, in this case the Police Service and thereby by extension they are classed as equipment.

Indeed - If I take a photo of my dog and send it to the photo agency, I have to tick a box to say that I have a property release for the image of him to be used in certain circumstances! 

With regard to miltary dogs, I've known a couple of RAF dog handlers who worked at the RAF base just up the road from where I used to live - both of whom were model dog owners and loved their buddies more than anything. However, both of them said that once the dogs reached an age where they were no longer 'of use' to the forces, their life wasn't so great - the RAF didn't want them because they were, effectively, useless, and due to their training they could never be rehomed - certainly not to 'normal' folk.

Whether that was true, I do not know - I'm going on their word.  Also, that was around 9 o 10 years ago, so things may have changed since then.

Michael S wrote (see)

That aside, I do think it's good to make more people aware that simply leaving the car window(s) down a bit is simply not enough, so well done TTG for bringing this up.  There is a popular misconception that dogs are fine in cars on hot days if you leave the window open a tad - they're not fine at all, simple as that.

Police and security dogs are NEVER re homed to the public, not so much because of the dangers to the new owners, but because in effect they are dogs trained to attack humans and you can imagine what might be the effect if they ended up in the wrong hands.

Dogs are mostly adopted by the handlers once retired, but those that don't do have an uncertain future. That has not changed.

Quite a few of the Police dogs that fail due to an overly aggressive nature are passed onto the forces as they do not generally work in areas where the public are, so they definately have an uncertain future. They do not retire so early as "civillian" dogs though.

What has changed though is the appalling cruelty that once went hand in hand with Police dog training, following some adverse publicity a few years back................... Essex Police dog training school I think it was.

The old shool thought was that dogs had to fear the hander, so beatings and choke chains were once routine. This is one reason why most of the dog rescues organisations would not under any circumstances give dogs to the Police!

Thankfully, at least that aspect has passed into recent history.

I will let you into a little secret, This was me in 1982 with my Police dog Tojo (yes I know a real "Ashes to Ashes" name)

He was a brilliant dog but we lost him at 4 years old to spinal cancer. As a "tough" Policeman, it broke my heart!

Wayne, yep, the dog I know failed for the same reason, he would attack a gloved hand when forced, but nothing else.

Tony, I remember the family dog passing when I was as a kid... inconsolable. My current dog is on her last legs and when the day comes, I only hope I can be the pillar of strength to my kids, that my Dad was to me... I won't!

1982, you say?

You haven't changed a bit!