Mandy Cook

Police dogs are biting more suspects than ever before amid an unprecedented number of canine deployments. The number of dog bites on suspects rose by 40 per cent in five years to a high of 805 in the 12 months to March, as the canine units were deployed by police forces to tackle the increasing numbers of protests and rising violence. The specially trained dogs were used in a total of 2,812 operations in the year to March, a record high and an increase of more than 50 per cent since 2020, according to new Home Office figures. The most common police dogs are German shepherds and Belgian malinois, which are used as “general purpose” dogs to detain, restrain and, where necessary, bite suspects, in any situation where police assess there is a threat to the public. However, the changing face of crime has seen a surge in the use of “digital detection” dogs specially trained to find phones, sim cards, memory sticks and hard drives in response to the explosion in the use of electronic devices by criminals. They are generally cocker or springer spaniels, which are also deployed as specialists in sniffing out explosives, or to find weapons, money and drugs. The final specialism is human remains detection dogs. These are chosen less for their breed and more for their energy, hunt drive and sense of smell. Kieran Stanbridge, founder of the Thin Blue Paw foundation, which supports retired police dogs, said the dogs enhanced the ability of police to control a crowd, allowing them to disperse protesters more quickly and help prevent a situation escalating. He said: “The public are scared of dogs, more so than a taser or baton. It means members of the public do listen to handlers with their dogs in those circumstances. It’s enough to have a dog to control a situation.” The number of protests police are called on to deal with has increased, with more than 3,000 in the summer of 2025. That is more than the 2,942 protests in 2024, when there were riots in several parts of the country following the Southport murders. In the face of increasing violence, the Home Office data show the number of dog bites increased from 583 in 2020-21 to 805 in the year to March. This was up from 737 in the year to March last year. However, the biggest surge has been in the use of “digital detection” dogs, because, said Mr Stanbridge, almost every crime now had a “digital footprint”. Mr Stanbridge said digital detection dogs could carry out a comprehensive search of a property in half an hour when it would take as many as 15 officers a day and a half on their own. He said handlers of the digital detection dogs were in such demand that they were working back-to-back shifts to support police raids and searches. Of the 1,400 police dogs across the UK, most are general purpose. They start training when they are 18 months old and typically serve for five to nine years, retiring at age seven to 10. More than 80 per cent of retired dogs are cared for by their handlers with the remainder adopted by families. Thin Blue Paw, a charity, is campaigning for the dogs to be given state pensions, like their handlers, because of high costs that can accrue as a result of a life in service. The charity said: “When these incredible dogs finish their service, they often carry the scars – both physical and emotional – of years spent protecting the public.” “But once they hang up their harness, their care becomes the responsibility of their handler or new owner, with no financial help from the Government or the police force they served with. We think that’s wrong.” Thin Blue Paw estimates vets and other bills can cost owners £3,500 a year, which is why it is urging the Home Office to recycle money generated from the seizure of criminal assets – often assisted by the dogs – into the care and rehabilitation of the canine cops. Continued…