TV Programme Send in The Dogs – Should it be Send in the Men in White Coats?
I watched a recent episode of ‘Send in the Dogs’ on ITV4, as a person who has an interest in dogs being used for working purposes. I suddenly realised that quite apart from the hype generated by certain sections of the media, some members of the Metropolitan Police appear to have presumably personal views similar to those of Lord Baker of Dorking, who as Kenneth Baker the Conservative MP introduced the moronic Dangerous Dogs Act.
The police seem to use the standard operating procedure of using a fire extinguisher on a dog that to the Police Dog Handlers is ‘fighting’, maybe it could be down to the fact that 20 members of the Met Police riot squad is kicking the door down at the time all shouting to distract any occupants that may make the dog bark, would any other breed of dog bark at such an event, or only Pit Bull types?
The opinions of the featured officers, the gloomy and foreboding voice over of ‘the most fearsome breed of dog known to man’ – really? any dog of whatever breed or size that may be attacking a person or causing fear or apprehension must at that particular moment in time be ‘the most fearsome breed known to man’, if it was trying to bite me it would be!
The build up to a raid on a drug dealers flat had the fire extinguisher used straight away, a police officer shouting ‘it is fighting’, before the dog was locked in a room, we do not see the drug dealer/dog owners face, was this because the drug/dealer/dog owner was not guilty of any offences?
The dog that had been ‘fighting’ is then seen moments later being led out quite happily on a lead and it jumps into the back of the police van, we then see it very scared and whimpering being double poled out of the van? Before you think I am knocking the police or being a bleeding heart fluffy bunny hugger, I have been involved in the difficult seizure of dogs that did fight and were later identified as being of type and I have been there when some of these dogs have been euthanized because of the law introduced by Lord Baker of Dorking.
With programmes such as this portraying dogs that may or may not be Pit Bull Terriers or of type, the public are led to believe that all such dogs are ‘evil devil dogs’, what scared me however was the Police Dog Handler PC Tozer driving his police van while wearing a bite sleeve?
The shots of the waiting police dogs and the voice over that ‘they wouldn’t be dealing with Pit Bulls tonight’ inferred what exactly, that they are used to fight with other dogs? As specialist tracking and man work dogs, no handler would ever use their dog to fight another dog? If the police used their dogs to ‘fight’ Pit Bulls, surely they would be guilty of dog fighting (wildly off the mark I know, but inference for dramatic effect does what exactly for the storyline?)
Am I being far too cynical to allege that programmes such as this fuel and produce the resources for forces such as the Metropolitan Police to increase the size of its ‘dangerous dog unit’ to the biggest type of unit in the country? There are police forces away from London that do not even have a Dog Legislation Officer? The DLO is an appointment that can help dogs and their owners as there is a dedicated specialist officer available to examine dogs that may have been initially identified as Pit Bull type which are later identified as not being of type and the officer is also on hand to advise on incidents involving dogs, because unlike the commentator on ‘Send In The Dogs’, we all know that any dog can become the most fearsome known to man if they do not receive responsible training and care from their owners and become a risk to people, dogs and other animals.
Surely if there is a time that the dog owner test as advocated by amongst others the Coalition For Improved Dog Ownership Standards (C-fidos) was needed it is now. Rather than calling for the destruction of a whole breed of dogs and their variants/types, Lord Baker of Dorking should be calling for improved funding for local authorities to use education and enforcement to deal with the problems of irresponsible dog ownership.
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That programme makes me sick!
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This made me so Angry :0(
Said by PC Emma Robling
“These dogs aint nice”
“I have no problem in putting these dogs 2 sleep”
She is s dog handler 4 god sake dont she know its not the dogs fault
Deed Not Breed
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One does have to wonder how much of this is sensationalised and edited by the production company.
I’m not defending the Police, and I’m certainly not a fluffy bunny hugger either. I too have been on raids as you state you have been. Yes there will be a number of police officers there to deal with the other offences and invariably it will be the police dog unit suggesting that they go in quietly so as to minimise the stress to the dog, and ultimately reducing the risk to other officers. Where they will negotiate with the suspect to allow access. There are occasions when this approach is not appropriate and then the full ‘riot’ mode approach is taken, and I’m sure if you cast your mind back to the raids/seizures you’ve been involved in if you take snap shots of the situation as it unfolded you could sensationalise the whole process. Afterall how ofter have you known a raid/seizure to fit into a nice 30 minute/hour slot? it takes an awful lot of planning, briefing and execution of a warrant before the ‘raid’ occurs & certainly its very rarely an all guns blazing route…
I hear your comment about some forces not having a DLO – I find it absolutely shocking that these forces do not have this as an emerging issue – its been on the cards for a very long time – ACPO have even ponied up with some training funds.
And yet there are a few in a Constabulary in the South of England who appear to have adopted the ostrich approach and are ignoring the issue in the hope that the problem will go away – sadly it won’t, and moreso when programmes like this sensationalise the issue and give the irresponsible owners/criminals/drug dealers ideas that they can use their dogs to get them a few valuable minutes to dispose of evidence or use it as a weapon in an attempt to avoid being arrested.
I just hope these Constabularies that have decided to adopt the ostrich approach with their heads in the sand get their exposed bottoms bitten & not some innocent person caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then lets see how quickly the Constabularies react then, no doubt with a knee jerk reaction of putting someone in post who doesn’t have a clue about the breeds or the legislation, or even worse passing the issue on to the local authority to deal with under their powers & duties. These Constabularies don’t appear to see the logic in being proactive and appointing a DLO in advance of an incident. They may be able to remove the risk of the incident arising in the first place! or are they happy to be found negligent in their duties & then face the peanlties from the courts or the criticism in a coroners court when someone dies as a result of their inaction?
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Freelance Writer Reply:
September 17th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Hi WM
Thanks for your comments. I know of one southern constabulary with its head in the sand, that really does need a DLO even if it is to just save time, money and the risk of facing corporate responsibility for the individual force!
On the plus side, there are more and more DLO’s appearing in police forces
I wasn’t really knocking the police for sorting out evil people but the guy wearing a bite sleeve whilst driving has to be a tad mad! Surely assessment of the situation, then deployment of the appropriate PPE is the way forward?
The sensationalistic style of the programme is probably more suited to car chases and the like, as it moves from interesting drugs and explosive work with the specialist dogs to the seizing of type dogs.
I support the police in the protection of the public from both people and dogs and understand the need for the enforcement of dog legislation but the police need to be supported by local government and central government.
The two latter groups need to raise awareness of responsible dog ownership and look at the introduction of dog registration to raise income for the setting up of appropriately funded dog warden services that will promote responsible dog ownership and carry out the administration of running dog registration in each council area.
A programme about the ins and outs of a dog registration scheme would probably be really boring in comparison to this programme?
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