Tri-Force police dog welfare scheme secures national seal of approval

Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire (BCH) Animal welfare scheme secures national seal of compliance

A tri-force scheme monitoring the welfare of serving police dogs across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire has been given a seal of approval by national charity Dog’s Trust.  

The charity ensures that the Animal Welfare Scheme, a collaboration between the Police and Crime Commissioners of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, is running in accordance with national guidelines. 

Their ‘Certificate of Compliance’ is awarded to recognise the strong and effective arrangements for monitoring the welfare of serving police dogs across the forces. 

Animal Welfare Visitors are independent volunteers whose job is to make regular inspections of each force’s dog training and accommodation facilities. 

The volunteers, who are all members of the public, dedicate their time to undertake training to help them effectively assess facilities and raise any issues for improvement. 

Dogs Trust has been working with police forces across the UK for more than 20 years to ensure the welfare of police dogs is of the highest standards, and to also identify possible service dogs among the thousands of dogs it rehomes every year. 

Cambridgeshire’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner acts as administrator for the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Independent Animal Welfare Scheme. 

Over recent months, the scheme’s coordinator, Shona McKenzie, has been working to secure Dogs Trust certification to provide reassurance to the public of the well-monitored and robust animal welfare checks in place across the three forces. 

PCCs Darryl Preston (Cambridgeshire and Peterborough), John Tizard (Bedfordshire) and Jonathan Ash-Edwards (Hertfordshire) have all been presented with certificates to reflect the scheme’s success.

Darryl said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the scheme and testament to the professionalism and dedication of our independent volunteers whose support has been critical to this certification. 

“Police dogs are highly valued members of the policing team, and play an instrumental role in keeping our communities, the public and their handlers safe. They deserve the highest standards of care and protection for all their hard work. 

“Our Animal Welfare Scheme is one of the many ways we provide accountability and transparency to the public, as well as reassurance to our communities that we treat the welfare of our canine crime fighters extremely seriously. 

“I am proud to have received the Dogs Trust’s official Certificate of Compliance. The hard work will continue to ensure we not only maintain these high standards but raise the bar even further in the future.” 

Last week, Shona met with Louise Crawford from Dogs Trust, who is the Animal Welfare Scheme Coordinator, to present detailed evidence of the range of work carried out through the scheme, providing copies of the annual report, agenda and minutes of committee meetings, visit logs and details of reporting processes. She also showcased the support provided nationally to other areas setting up their own schemes. 

The charity was extremely impressed with the way information is gathered, organised and evidenced as part of the scheme and was particularly complimentary about the new-style annual report. 

Dogs Trust will be adding new layers to its assurance process – a positive development to enhance transparency, widen the scope of the scheme and increase public reassurance. 

Louise said: “I was delighted to award the Certificate of Compliance. This ensures that there is an open and transparent process to monitor the welfare needs of these amazing working dogs. Dogs Trust is proud to support this scheme and looks forward to working in partnership with all three forces going forward and is excited to see how welfare of working dogs can continue to improve.” 

For more information about the Animal Welfare Scheme visit: Animal Welfare Visiting Scheme. 

For information about the Dogs Trust visit: Dogs Rehoming & Dog Rescue Charity | Dogs Trust