Dog section awarded certification

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Monday, 11 April 2022 12:06

Gwent Police's Dog Unit has been awarded an accreditation from Dogs Trust.

The dog section has 16 handlers, split between the east and west of Gwent.

The team supports every part of policing, from helping find missing people, searching for drugs, and even detecting explosives and money, our four-legged friends really do help keep Gwent safe.

The dog section has 16 general purpose dogs and around 10 specialist dogs. All dogs go through an extensive training programme, with the smaller breeds being trained within six to eight weeks and the bigger dogs taking around 12 weeks to be fully trained.

Dogs Trust is the largest animal welfare charity and humane society in the UK, covering Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Their teams care for more than 15,000 dogs every year, with their main goal being to protect dogs from maltreatment, cruelty and suffering.

Superintendent Martyn Smith said: “We’re delighted that we’ve been awarded this accreditation.

“Volunteers are a big part of the team, and we have a great team of independent volunteers who monitor the welfare and care of our police dogs and I am so grateful to them for helping us maintain such high standards within the force.

“These volunteers regularly visit handlers and the dogs to ensure the animals are fit and well and follow this up with quarterly meetings chaired by one of the members along with Inspector Havard and colleagues from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office. It is so important to have this independent scrutiny, and the animal welfare visitors scheme helps provide this.”