Derbyshire stabbed police dog discharged from vet

The force received hundreds of messages of support after Axle was injured

A police dog stabbed three times while responding to a "domestic incident" has been discharged from the vet.

PD Axle was injured while assisting police in High Street, Riddings, Derbyshire, on 4 July.

Axle, seven, was treated at a vets in Derby and is back with his handler, PC Dean Allen, to recuperate.

Matthew Stretch, 27, of Keyworth, has been charged with two counts of making threats to kill police officers and two counts of criminal damage.

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PD Axle with his handler PC Dean Allen

Derbyshire Police has thanked the public for "hundreds of messages of support" for Axle and his "two-legged colleagues".

Mr Stretch, of Plantation Road, who is due to appear at Derby Crown Court on 2 August, has also been charged with assault, threatening with a blade and breaching a restraining order.

Injuries to police dogs are currently treated as criminal damage.

A proposal for a new law to give greater protection to police animals was blocked earlier this month after an objection by Conservative MP Christopher Chope.