Police dog Chip and handler PC Luke Pitchford.

PD Boots, Chip, Jeff and Luther were all former rescue dogs or strays.

Four crime-fighting canines have been formally recognised by Dogs Trust for their work to protect high-profile figures and detect drugs, firearms or cash.

Police dog (PD) Boots, PD Chip, PD Jeff and PD Luther, who all started their careers as stray or rescue dogs, have each been granted an Animal Welfare Scheme award, which celebrates the success of dogs that work for the emergency services across the country.  

PD Boots received the All-Round Achiever Award for his success with handler PC Mark Rickwood. During his career, the six-year-old Labrador collie has sniffed out drugs with a street value of more than £1680,000 and recovered hundreds of thousands of pounds in laundered cash while working at Stansted Airport. 

PD Chip won the Economic Crime Buster Award for his work as a cash, drugs and firearms detection dog. A former stray, Chip and his handler, PC Luke Pitchford, have successfully completed numerous operations, including the discovery of £750,000 worth of cocaine.

PC Pitchford from the Dog Section of Essex Police said: "We are extremely grateful that the hard work of these two very special police dogs has been recognised. The fact that they have come from rescues makes their achievement all that more amazing.”

PD Jeff was awarded the Community Superstar Award for keeping the public safe across the UK. Since joining Dorset Police, he and handler PC Sue Hiller have been deployed to significant events like the G7 in Cornwall, where they were responsible for searching The Eden Project before the arrival of the Royal Family.

Speaking of PD Jeff’s achievement, his handler PC Sue Hillier says:“Thank you to Dogs Trust for recognising the work that our dogs do. In Dorset, we prefer to rehome rather than buy our police dogs, and Jeff is a great example of a dog that has gone on to do great things since being rehomed as a police dog.

“In the two short years since he qualified, he has been to Cornwall, Scotland, Birmingham, and just a week after receiving this award, he was supporting us with our work in London ahead of the funeral of Her Majesty The Queen.”

Police Dog Luther received the Rescue Hero Award for his outstanding tracking abilities, which he used to track down a violent suspect on the run with a knife after a robbery, assault, and theft. When Luther was waiting for his permanent home, employees at Dogs Trust Harefield noticed his potential and encouraged him to join the team at Hertfordshire Constabulary. 

PD Luther’s handler, PC Philip Rosier said: “I’m really pleased that Luther has won this award. It’s hard to imagine that he was not wanted by someone at any stage of his life. I love working alongside PD Luther, he is a fantastic companion, and we learn from each other every day. He continues to work hard to locate and catch suspects. He also appeared on the national police recruitment campaign which aired early this year.”

In recent years, Dogs Trust has rehomed some 70 dogs with police forces across the UK, where many have gone on to succeed as support dogs.

The Animal Welfare Visitors Scheme, which has been in existence for 20 years, was established to ensure that high standards for animal welfare are met in the training, housing, and transportation of police dogs.

Dogs Trust is calling on all police dog units, the military, and other emergency services in the UK to embrace the initiative, which has already gained the support of 32 police departments throughout the country. 

Louise Crawford, animal welfare scheme coordinator at Dogs Trust, says:
“It’s fantastic to be able to celebrate and recognise the success of service dogs working across the UK. It’s even more amazing that they all came from humble beginnings, spending time in rehoming centres before being identified as potential police dogs. 

“We’ve been working with police forces across the UK for 20 years to ensure the welfare of police dogs is of the very highest standards, and to identify possible service dogs amongst the thousands of dogs we rehome every year. 

“We never fail to be blown away by the stories of heroism and bravery shown by these crime fighters. Congratulations to Boots, Chip, Jeff and Luther and their handlers for their amazing achievements and thank you to all the police dogs and their handlers working across the UK.”

Image (C) Dogs Trust.