HIOWC celebrates vital role of police dogs on International Dog Day

This International Dog Day, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is recognising the vital role police dogs play in protecting communities, supporting investigations and helping officers keep people safe.

Highly trained and exceptionally skilled, police dogs are a crucial part of modern policing. Working alongside handlers, they help track and locate suspects, find vulnerable missing people, detect drugs and explosives, recover evidence and search for hidden digital devices.

Their specialist abilities make them an invaluable policing resource, supporting a wide range of operations across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight every day. From helping to bring offenders to justice to locating people in need of urgent assistance, police dogs regularly contribute to outcomes that help keep communities safe.

Inspector Andy Mooge, said: "Police dogs provide an extraordinary service to our communities. Their dedication, intelligence and specialist skills make a real difference every day in fighting crime, bringing offenders to justice and protecting the public. International Dog Day is an opportunity to recognise the incredible contribution these dogs and their handlers make to policing across our two counties."

To mark the day, we're sharing a social media video inviting the you to test your knowledge of the different specialist roles carried out by police dogs and learn more about the wide range of skills they bring to policing. Check out the video here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FqgIvyty5Sx-zeJAwaSkrlD0N5G4R2Kz/view?usp=sharing

The dogs featured are all based in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight but form part of the Joint Operations Unit, which provides specialist operational support to Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary and Thames Valley Police.