Police kept dog seized for two years without exercise
Police kept a dog locked in a one-metre by three-metre cage for two years without allowing it any exercise, an investigation has revealed.
Police kept a dog locked in a one-metre by three-metre cage for two years without allowing it any exercise, an investigation has revealed.
BBC Ones Inside Out South West found that Stella, a pitbull-like dog, was only allowed out twice for behavioural assessments during the two years Devon and Cornwall Police kennelled her under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.
The force said exercise was prohibited as a result of her breed and aggressive behaviour both when being seized and during the assessments.
This contradicts RSPCA guidelines that state seized dogs must have daily access to outdoor safe and secure areas, away from the kennel area and this should be for at least 30 minutes per day.
According to a spokesperson for the force, Stella was the only dog seized in the last two years that was too dangerous to walk because of her aggressive behaviour.
The force claims this was constantly under review, and was repeatedly verified by independent experts.
The spokesperson said: This dog has threatened and shown aggressive behaviour towards two police community support officers.
There were also occasions where the animal showed aggressive behaviour prior to being seized, which were fully described in court.
The dog also attempted to bite a court-appointed independent expert during its assessment.
They also said that Stella had received continual kennel enrichment from staff and had remained in fine and fit condition throughout.
Sergeant Allan Knight from the Devon and Cornwall Police Dog Handling Unit added: There will always be some dogs, for whatever reason, that cannot go back, and cannot get walked by staff because of the danger they possess.
However, vet and animal behaviour expert Kendal Shepherd described the dogs treatment as terrible and unjustified.
Its wasting huge amounts of money and its not doing a single thing to prevent dog bites, she said.
Laura Khanlarian, who works at the centre where Stella was kennelled, told the BBC: We were always told not to exercise or go into a kennel with any dogs, regardless of character, that had been brought in under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
We were under no circumstances allowed to touch any of those dogs at all which was hard. Animal welfare comes before anything and that was my job.
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act, it is illegal to own a pitbull terrier, a Japanese Tosa, a Dogo Argentino or a Fila Brasiliero.
But a recent amendment to the Act gives police the discretion to allow a suspected prohibited dog to remain with its owner as long as it does not pose a threat to public safety.
Stella was seized in 2014 when her owner, Antony Hastie, was arrested for an unrelated offence.
Torquay Magistrates Court passed an order to have her destroyed on February 8, and Mr Hastie was given 28 days to appeal.
He had previously told the court that Stella had shown no signs of aggression prior to being seized.
Stellas case is not the longest police have held a dog. A Freedom of Information request submitted last September found Hertfordshire Constabulary once kept a dog for two years and eight months.
It also revealed that £5 million was spent on kennelling more than 7,000 dogs between 2010 and 2015.
In comparison, keeping 55,000 police dogs over the same period cost just £1 million, as the animals are usually kept with their handlers.
On average, the cost of seizing a dog is £650, although for Dorset Police it was £1,490.
Over the five-year period, Greater Manchester Police spent more than £900,000 on kennelling seized dogs.
Gareth Pritchard, deputy chief constable for North Wales Police and national lead for dangerous dogs, described these costs as a burden on already stretched police finances.