Police dog team pelted with bricks wins award

A dog unit from Staffordshire Police has won the inaugural Police Dog Team of the Year Award at the Thin Blue Paw Awards

A police dog team that faced down rioters hurling bricks during disorder in the summer of 2024 is to be honoured.

The Staffordshire Police squad was deployed to Tamworth on 4 August 2024, where bricks and fireworks were being thrown.

The team is to now receive the award for Police Dog Team of the Year at awards from dog welfare charity Thin Blue Paw Foundation at the Kennel Club, London.

A number of dogs were injured after being hit by bricks, kicked or hit by fireworks, the charity said.

PD Vixen, a six-year-old Dutch Herder, suffered a cut to her head after being kicked and hit by a brick.

Her handler PC Sam Jones, from Wolverhampton, said: "Vixen's injuries caused a lot of bleeding and some initial panic. Someone ran a first aid kit to us in the middle of the car park so we could clean up the injuries.

"It was clear Vixen still wanted to work so she continued her duties while being monitored and, as a precaution, we took her to an emergency vet at 2am once our shift had finished."

PD Vixen suffered a cut to her head after being kicked and hit by a brick, Thin Blue Paw Foundation said

PC Leah Smith works with a dog called Bones that was burned by a firework.

She said having fireworks "hurled at us was one of the scariest situations I've experienced".

"We couldn't escape the situation as we knew we needed to protect the front line," she said.

PC Ruth Jones, who handles German Shepherd Ebony, said: "This deployment was one of the most intense and challenging experiences of my career.

"It was a day of extreme hostility that tested every aspect of our training, teamwork, and resilience."

A Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth was pictured in August last year, after it was attacked

PC Steve Smith, from Stoke-on-Trent, who has been a dog handler for 23 years, was part of the team that responded along with PD Delta, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois.

He said: "I feel tremendously honoured and humbled to have achieved this award, especially as I am coming up to retirement in November this year after over 28 years of being a police officer."

The award is also going to dog commander on the day of the riots PC Scott Tatton, PC Craig Neeson, PD Kev, PC Luke Nixon and PD Maddie.

The Thin Blue Paw Foundation is a dog welfare charity that rehabilitates, protects and celebrates both serving and retired police dogs.