The Answer’s In Your Own Hands…

Police spending on kennels and veterinary bills in England and Wales has more than tripled since the XL bully ban came into force, with some forces recording an almost 500% spending increase since the new law was enacted in 2024.

There's a simple answer, and it’s ‘when you rock up to an attack, shoot the mutts then and there!’ You don’t need a live dog to determine the breed, a dead one will do just fine.

West Mercia police reported the biggest increase, with annual costs rising from £92,383 in 2022-23 to £715,349 in 2025-26, a 674% increase.

Wales again? What is it with that place? 

John Campion, the Conservative police and crime commissioner for the area, said: “Policing is already stretched, and rising costs and growing demand are pushing resources to the limit. The added burden, created by the government and public, of paying for kennelling illegal dogs places even more pressure on already tight budgets.“Kennelling is essential for public safety, but without proper government support these costs risk impacting frontline services.”

No, what’s essential for public safety is the removal of the danger, and that can just as easily be in a garbage bag as in a dog van. It should be already be SOP for any incident where a person or pet has been killed by these things.

Patrick O’Hara, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) tactical lead on dangerous dogs, said he had “not known this type of demand in my 26 years’ service”. “Our kennelling needs have gone up by about one-third since the ban came into force and the demand isn’t slowing down so we’re having to really concentrate on threat, harm and risk,” he told the BBC. “In the short term I think we will continue to see dog attacks as these dogs start to come of age and reach maturity. So I think it’s going to probably get worse before it gets better.”

Or maybe you’ll only have to shoot one or two to get the rest of owners to comply? 

“It does seem like the dogs being kennelled are the dogs which are more dangerous, but it is obviously the case that they’re stuck in kennels and we don’t want that from a dog welfare perspective, and it’s also something that’s sad from an owner perspective,” said Benedict Treloar, co-founder of the Campaign for Evidence-Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs (CEBRDD).

Why is the welfare of mutts that have killed people and pets even a factor in your deliberations? There are other agebcies to worry about that:

The RSPCA, which did not support the XL bully ban, wants to see compulsory recording of dog bite incidents to help understand the scale of the problem and its causes, with a greater focus on education and prevention, rather than seizing animals.

Yes, they really are suggesting that killer animals be left with the useless owners. Another reason not to give them any money, as if one was needed.

Dedicated, Professional, Highly Trained...

 ...and a bit forgetful: 

Armed police guarding ­London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan left a bag of guns on the street outside his home in a shocking security blunder. Five officers are believed to have forgotten the holdall, found on a kerbside at around 9.30pm on Tuesday.

Oh, we've all done it, havn't we? been so eager to knock off work we've left our building pass in our desk, and been unable to exit the building when we get to the lobby?  Well, that's me, and boy was my face red! 

That night feral youths ran riot in Clapham, just a short distance from the Mayor’s South London family home. A pregnant passer-by who saw the bag riskily kicked it before telling her partner. He took in the haul, which included an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler & Koch ­carbine, a Glock pistol, Taser and ammunition.

“She went over to it and kicked it to see what it might be. But it was really heavy and didn’t move. “It was lucky one of the guns inside didn’t go off or else she and our baby due next month could have been shot and killed.”

Well, if they were loaded, anyway, and would they have been? Who can say?  

Jordan laid the guns out on the bed and took a photo of them with his phone before calling police.

“I called the police and told them what I had found and within a few minutes they turned up to collect the guns. “When they arrived they were really shocked. They looked through the bag carefully and hurriedly took them away. “I was told they had been left there by one of Sadiq Khan’s security officers, which made sense as he lives here. “I asked the police whether there might be a reward for finding the guns and one of them said ‘We will give you a bag of sweets’.”

That's gratitude for you! 

The Met’s directorate of professional standards is investigating the circumstances and the five armed protection officers have been temporarily suspended from frontline duties pending the outcome.

Yep, no need to say it!

 

Must Be A Day With A ‘Y’ In It…

A Metropolitan Police officer failed to disclose he had been dismissed from another force 21 years ago and barred from joining a third in the latest vetting scandal.

Really, a day when the Met Police doesn’t disgrace itself must surely be coming, but that day is not yet here. 

PC Richard Fieldhouse served for around three years until his lies were uncovered in December 2022. Fieldhouse quit Hampshire Constabulary while under investigation in 2005 for breaches of “honesty and integrity” relating to his handling of a wanted suspect, a gross misconduct panel heard.

In April 2007, he applied to join Surrey Police. However, as part of its background checks Hampshire revealed Fieldhouse had once falsified a statement and been found guilty in his absence.His assessment day in Guildford, Surrey was cancelled and the force subsequently blocked him.

Gosh, what's a wanna-be crooked cop to do? Reader, you guessed it!  

Undeterred, Fieldhouse sought to join the Met in February 2019 after declaring a driving job. Although admitting to working for Hampshire and being rejected by Surrey, he simply answered “no” to a question on his application form that asked whether he had previously been admonished or subject to discipline matters by any previous employer, regulatory or professional body. 

He successfully became a constable in London four months later.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey

Commander Stephen Clayman, who chaired the hearing, said: “Honesty is a fundamental requirement of any police officer."

How about competence? It seems that would be more useful, especially in your HR department. 

It is not known when he resigned from the Met, but on January 27 the ex-officer disengaged with the process and no longer wanted a Police Federation representative. Had Fieldhouse not quit, he would have been dismissed without notice for discreditable conduct. He will be placed on the College of Policing barred list.

So, are we to assume from that, that he wasn’t on it before. What does one have to do?

Yes, They Actually Let A Fox Guard The Henhouse...

The head of a primary school who discussed sexually abusing a child with a mother he met on a fetish website has been banned from teaching for life.

Gosh! I wonder what the school safeguarding team thought about this? 

Paul Brown, the safeguarding lead at Bransgore Church of England school in Christchurch, Hampshire, left in April 2024 due to 'personal reasons'.

Oh.... 

But it has now emerged that he was arrested in July 2023 as a suspected paedophile - although he was not charged.

Why not? Another CPS lazy day, I guess. Or the police failed to secure enough evidence to charge him. 

Brown used a bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism (BDSM) website Fetlife between June and July 2023, sometimes during school hours.

Gotta have a little something to while away the long boring hours, I guess... 

After police arrested him, Brown claimed he thought it was 'all fantasy' and that Person A's children did not exist.

As likely an excuse as 'the dog ate my homework'... 

Despite the accusations against him, the misconduct panel heard character witness statements. One person wrote to the panel: 'I agree that he acted unwisely and without rational perspective but I don't believe he has ever, or would ever, harm another human being, including a child.' Another wrote: 'I believe that Paul is safe to work with children,' adding that 'Paul has spent his life helping children' and is a 'good man who has had his life's work taken away by this very sad affair'.

Luckily, the panel didn't go along with this. And he showed his utter contempt for the system by his behavior at the hearing. 

The conduct panel heard how, despite the nature of the conversation Brown had with Person A, he did not report the profile to the website or contact the police despite being aware that children were at 'risk of sexual abuse'. Brown did not attend the hearing. In a letter and a statement to the panel dated October 2025 he admitted to 'large parts of the allegations facing him'.

It should come as no surprise that these people seek to put themselves in these positions of access to prey but when caught, they really should face more consequences than this. 

Why Are Rural Police Forces So Utterly Useless?

A dog owner has thanked members of the public who came to his aid after a large staffy-type dog dragged it's owner across the pavement in Plymouth to attack his terrified cavapoo dog. Dan Eager said he was out with his mum in the city centre on Sunday [February 15] at around noon and had just left the Coffee#1 on Cornwall Street along with their seven year old cavapoo called Abby, with the intention of turning right and heading up towards Drake Circus mall.He said: "I had clocked the dog a few seconds before so I made sure to move my dog to my right side away from the incoming dog, and all of a sudden this dog - which was on a lead - just jumped at her and grabbed her at the neck. The woman walking it was clearly too weak to hold it back, it just dragged her over. She made no effort to even try and help get the dog off. Apparently we later found out it wasn’t even her dog but her partner's dog.

God, it's such a familiar story. All the hallmarks - innocent victim, unstoppable killing machine, useless owner in no sort of countrol. All that's missing is police incompetence (thankfully not on display in the Warrington case). 

"Someone called the police and we had a word with one of the officers who took our details and the lady with the other dog’s details. My mum said she was told by an officer that they were waiting for a police van to take the woman and dog away from the area."

Dan and his mother eventually headed off up towards the mall, cutting through to Old Town Street with the aim of heading in the White Stuff store. However, within minutes of being there he said he looked up to see the same woman walking her dog past the window.

And there it is, right on cue! 

"Police have our details and the woman's but we have not been given a crime number and have not been contacted yet. After talking with my mum we want the dog which attacked Abby put down and that the owner is banned from ever owning dogs again."

At last, someone who isn't afraid to say what they really feel, rather than making excuses for the offending dog and/or owner! 

A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said: "Police were called at 12pm on Sunday 16 February following reports of a dog attacking another dog in Cornwall Street, Plymouth.

"The person in charge of one of the dogs was given strong words of advice, with a potential for a further visit from a dog handler in due course."

Wow, I bet they are shaking in their boots. Why so lax, when the DDA was beefed up for this very circumstance? 

Oh, right. It's because the rural police farces are even more lazy and incompetent than the city ones. 

You Think You Despise The UK Police Enough...

...you're wrong:

Police refused to return a stolen phone to a victim because it might infringe the privacy rights of the thief who went on to use it.

Melvyn Mainwaring awoke on May 18 to find his phone, bank cards and bus pass were all missing. The phone was later found by police in the possession of Daniel Reid.

Normally, this would be a success story. But no-one can have those anymore, and the UK police farces are experts at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 

However, police soon discovered that Reid had been using the phone and had claimed it was his own. Now North Wales Police are refusing to return the phone to Mr Mainwaring, claiming it would infringe on GDPR (General Data Protection Reulation) rights of Reid.

The judge, fortunately, wasn't having any, unsurprisingly, since GDPR doesn't apply to individuals, but to organisations: 

A judge today blasted the 'nonsensical' situation. Her Honour Nicola Jones, ordered the police to return the phone at a sentencing hearing in Caernarfon Crown Court. Judge Jones asked if Mr Mainwaring was having difficulties having his phone returned 'because of GDPR'. The prosecutor Mr McLoughlin replied: 'I do not know. It would not surprise me.'

Heh! It wouldn't surprise any of us, Mr McLoughlin. 

The judge pointed out that Reid did not consider the victim's GDPR rights when he took the phone, adding: 'It's ridiculous it will not be (returned). 'It just seems nonsensical. I do direct that North Wales Police return that telephone to Mr Mainwaring.'

What did he get from this judge? 

The judge sentenced him to three years and four months for the burglary in Rhos-on-Sea, 16 months concurrent for the Abergele burglary, and four months consecutive for the hotel burglary. There was also a one-month consecutive jail term for a Bail Act offence.

Probably not enough, since he's a scofflaw. But I can't help but feel there's a few cops who should be in the dock with him.

H/T: Wearefaircop via Twitter

The Solution Is Surely In The Hands Of Your ARVs

Enforcing a ban on XL bully dogs is placing a huge burden on policing with millions of pounds spent on veterinary bills and kennelling, police chiefs have said. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said kennel spaces were reaching capacity, with costs “increasing by the day”. It said veterinary bills and the cost of kennelling banned dog breeds had risen from £4m in 2018 to more than £11m between February and September 2024. It can cost about £1,000 a month to keep an XL bully in kennels.

What evidential value do they have alive that they don't have dead? None. So when called out to an attack, stop seizing them alive! 

And insist the courts impose financial penalties on the moron owners.  

Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s lead for dangerous dogs, said the ban was placing a huge burden on policing. Hobrough, the chief constable of Gwent police, said: “We are facing a number of challenges in kennel capacity, resourcing and ever-mounting costs, and as of today we have not received any additional funding to account for this. We urgently need the government to support us in coping with the huge demand the ban has placed on our ever-stretched resources.” Hobrough said conversations were ongoing with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs but there was no formal agreement “whereby any funding has come into any police force to account for these additional demand factors”.

Perhaps they, too, believe the answer's staring you in the face, Mark? Getting rid of the dog enthusiasts in the ranks would be a good idea too...

The NPCC tactical lead, Supt Patrick O’Hara, said he did not think all XL bullies were automatically dangerous but they had the “propensity” to be by their “sheer size and power”. O’Hara said: “In the right hands, with the right socialisation, with a really responsible owner, a lot of those dogs will never come to notice.”

Which is what, some sort of comfort to the bereaved pet owners and families of savaged children and adults? 

What Happened To 'To Protect And Serve'?

Lindsey Stech received a motion alert from her doorbell camera on Dec. 18, revealing a man lurking in her yard with a flashlight. Stech called 911, and a deputy was dispatched to investigate but found nothing during the initial search. When Stech later spotted the man again through her camera, she called 911 to request the deputy's return. The operator, however, declined her request."There is nobody outside," the operator told the caller. "Well, I mean, I'm looking at him right now," Stech insisted. "They're not going to come by again," the operator replied."I'm going to say goodbye now," the dispatcher said, ending the call. "There's nothing more that I can do now. Have a good night."

Should have simply told her 'I'm getting my gun to shoot him' and she'd have had half the precinct at her door... 

Stech described feeling "lost, hopeless and panic-filled" as the situation unfolded. Ultimately, the deputy returned, spoke with the man, and informed Stech that he was allegedly waiting for another woman, as reported by WYFF.

Sounds dodgy as hell, but at least they did respond. 

Following the incident, Spartanburg County 911 issued a statement acknowledging the dispatcher's failure to communicate effectively with Stech.

Couldn't really bluff this one out!  

The agency apologized, pledged to implement additional training, and confirmed personnel action against the operator.

Probably just a writen warning. And they'd do none of that if it hadn't been for being shamed into it... 

H/T: The Jannie via email

Looks Like Police Policy On Dangerous Dog Attacks For 2025...

...is to remain mostly utterly fucking useless, just like they did - with a handful of notable exceptions - in 2024. 

Three dogs have been seized after an attack at a playing field in Devon led to two dogs being euthanised, police said.

No, not the attacking mutts despatched at the scene, oh, dear me no. 

Devon and Cornwall Police said officers were called to Exwick Playing Fields on 21 December after reports of dogs attacking "other dogs and humans". The force said two dogs were put to sleep as a result of the attack, while a woman was taken to hospital and treated for puncture wounds. It said a woman, in her 50s, has been identified in connection to the investigation and three dogs remained in police kennels.

Then we have this farce in Nottingham (trigger warning for animal death/police gross incompetence):

It's no surprise the police were so useless, when this is the pathetic attitude of the country's dog warden. 

To the comments! 

I saw this video less than an hour after seeing this one from the States, and thanking my lucky stars we didn't have to put up with useless fat black DEIhires who can't do anything useful when they do turn up, so now, I have to eat my words! 

Maybe A Child Would Be Less Credulous?

Mr Chant said the attack, involving a dog believed to be a rottweiler, happened at the Marsh playing fields behind the swimming pool when he was walking his own dog. He had approached the owner of the dog, who was in the children's play park, to ask if he could pet it and the owner, a woman, said it was fine.

Oh oh!

Speaking about the attack, he said: "I put my hand out to stroke the dog and it bit me and as she was trying to pull the dog off me it pulled my hand through the railings.

"There were children in the play park. What if it was a child? It would have been at face height."

Perhaps a child would have been more sensible than to want to pet a large unknown dog or to believe the owner when she said it was fine, though?  

Mr Chant said the woman who had the dog had been in touch with him to apologise.

And the cops? What are they doing?  

The attack took place on the afternoon of Sunday, December 15 and Dorset Police is carrying out an investigation. No arrests have been made at this stage.

Sod all, as usual. But to the comments! 

Dog racism. If I rolled my eyes and harder they'd fall out of my head. 

 

There's An Easy Solution, And South Yorkshire Police Has Trialled It For You....

The cost of kennelling dangerous dogs has quadrupled to £1 million in the last year, the chief constable of Essex Police revealed yesterday.

Don't seize them alive then. What evidential value do they have, when they have attacked and killed another pet or human, despatch them then and there as dangerous.  

Ben-Julian Harrington Harrington said the huge cost was contributing to an £11 million shortfall that could see 200 fewer officers on the county's streets. It comes ten months after XL bully dogs were banned in the UK following a series of deadly attacks on people.

'We've got to look after these dogs, it's not their fault,' he said. 'But of course, it's another cost, another pressure taking away from other crimes.

'We've seized 145 dangerous dogs this financial year at a cost of nearly £1 million to house and kennel them.

'It's the right thing to do - we saw a tragedy in Essex where a woman lost her life to a dog attack, so it's right we investigate and keep the dogs safe and healthy, but it's a massive cost.'

Then don't do it! Good grief, why are we employing people this thick in the police farces? 

Earlier this year it was estimated that housing dangerous dogs would cost £2.2 million nationally each year, but based on the amount spent by Essex alone, the bill could be far higher. The National Police Chiefs Council said the total cost would not be known until February, which marks one year since the XL bully ban came into force, or the end of the financial year in April.

The final bill is likely to dwarf what was being spent a decade ago, when a BBC investigation found it was costing £1million a year for the UK's 45 police forces to hold dangerous dogs across the entire country.

Change the policy then.  

Sometimes I Have Trouble Believing What I'm Reading....

Neighbours last night claimed the tragedy comes just months after the grey dog was reported to police and the city dog warden after the ‘aggressive’ animal attacked another pet in July.

And once again, the police have a death on their hands through inaction - at least this time it's only the brainless owner and not an innocent, as in Stratford.  

Dog owner Ryan Gray, 25, said he was out with his ten-year-old collie, Clyde, when Bailey lunged for his pet and punctured its neck, leaving him with a £180 vet bill. He said: ‘Even with a muzzle, he managed to get a grip of my dog’s neck. I really felt like that the dog was trying to kill him. I was really pleading with her to get him [Bailey] off.’ Mr Gray, who was also injured trying to prise the dog’s teeth from his pet, told how Ms McLeod struggled to control the muscular pet and would shout at him and others to keep their dogs away from him.

So why wasn't it seized then? Was it the attitude of the victim that stopped the police? 

But he said: ‘It is really horrible what has happened. No one deserves that to happen to them. I never wanted to see that dog put down – I would have liked to see it go to someone who could have controlled it better.

‘It was only a year-and-a-half-old, so just a pup. This should never have happened.’

Imagine what the thing would do fully grown! Who exactly was he hoping would come forward who'd be able to control it, Kraven the Hunter?  

I Can't Keep Up With Them....

 ...fatal dog maulings, that is. 

Police were last night urgently hunting up to three bulldog-like dogs suspected of mauling their owner’s brother to death. Officers were called to Hereford Close in Rubery, West Mids, in the early hours of Wednesday after receiving reports of dogs on the loose - and an awful smell coming from one garden.

A 33-year-old man, named locally as Niko, was found dead in the back garden of a property, where he had been looking after the dogs for his brother.

Looking after these murder mutts is a risky business, just yesterday we had the awful story of a man whose kind heart led him to a horrible death in the jaws of an XL bully he'd voliunteered to look after, and now this.

West Midlands Police initially said two dogs were seized at the scene and two further dogs may have also been at the address at the time and could now be at large in the area. But in a later statement, Insp Leanne Chapman said there were ‘definitely’ two dogs yet to be found and ‘potentially’ three dogs.

‘They may be together or they may be separated,’ she said, adding that the man in the house had been found with ‘bite injuries’.None of the dogs involved are believed to be a banned breed such as an XL Bully, but are thought to be similar American Bulldog types.

Maybe it's time they were added to the list then. But back to the bad smell. 

Neighbour Charlene Newman, 40, told the Mail she had called the police after smelling a foul stench coming from the garden. She said: ‘It was a really bad smell. Like something rotting and it was coming from the bottom of the hedge in the back garden. I didn’t see a body but then the police came and put up a tent while they recovered it.‘

So just how long had he been dead? 

And when reading this, the place name rang a bell. And here's why. It will be karma if these beasts were responsible for that, won't it, Reader?

Somebody Didn’t Like Dags…

A dog was run over and killed by a car on seafront lawns.Sussex Police have seized the car involved and are investigating.

Inspector Alexandra Bailey said: “We understand the significant distress this incident has caused to the dog’s owners – and the wider public – and our enquiries to identify the driver of the vehicle are ongoing.

“We know there were a large number of people in the area around that time, and we’re urging anyone who can assist in our investigation to please come forward."

The car, which has been seized, was unregistered and uninsured and the driver is yet to be traced.

I can't help but think if you look behind you, you might find a clue or two...

 

The Final Insult...

Just when you thought the story of the calf-ramming cops couldn't get any worse...

A source told MailOnline: 'The police handed her over to two men who were there when it happened. They offered to look after Beau Lucy and took her to a farm near Heathrow.

'But when the owner got there, it was a bit of a struggle getting her back. They insisted on being paid for keeping her, and he had no choice but to cough up.'

Hardly surprising, as they turned out to be travellers. 

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: 'Following the injury caused to the cow, two members of the public offered to use their trailer to transport her to a nearby smallholding accompanied by police. 'Once identified, the owner then collected the cow from the smallholding. The members of the public have sought costs for providing this transportation service.

'Surrey Police intends to make a compassionate payment to the owner of the cow. This will cover both the cost of recovery of the cow from the scene and the cost of immediate critical care for the cow by a veterinarian.

'The latest update we have on the condition of the calf is that she continues to recover under the treatment of a vet and has been reunited with her herd.'

You can't even decide if it's 'a cow' (it isn't but it sounds scarier) or  'a calf' (It is, making your action even more unnecessary). 

The Movies Are Lying Again...

A swan on a dual carriageway caused a crash, leaving a car fully engulfed in flames and bringing Poole to a standstill.

Emergency services were called to Dorset Way past Tower Park in Poole during rush hour at 7.50am on Tuesday, May 7. According to the fire brigade, two vehicles had crashed because there was a swan on the road.

However, the police were called to a swan on the road at 6.23am the same morning and officers had put it on the pavement.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police said she would not go into the cause of the crash and could not confirm if a swan was the cause. She confirmed a swan had been reported on the road earlier that morning.

She said: "Officers attended and the swan was off the road and on the pavement. Partner agencies were notified."

Oh, I thought they were trained for this stuff?  

*crosses out another on the list of 'things cops no longer excel at'*

H/T: IanJ via email

This Is No Great 'Mystery' At All....

...there are probably pygmies in the Congo who could take a good guess at who's doing this. Why do we always pretend it's some sort of puzzle?

Mike Jelen, a conservation manager who works on estates in the area, said: ‘This is now happening twice a week.

'It’s total anarchy and the police are doing little about it. By dumping the bodies like this, the poachers are sticking two fingers up to farmers and rural communities.’

Just like the police are. 

Disingenuous Statement Of The Month

And it comes from a normally fair police Tweeter, too:

 

I wasn't about to let this one pass me by....

I can't help but feel like some people are so used to being unquestioned in their role that when they are, the excuses are even lamer than 'But miss, the dog ate my homework..'.

Oh Sure, That's Errr Thingummy, You Know, Him...!

/facepalm

H/T: Ian J via email

Usual Owner Again?

A man on a mobility scooter was attacked by a bully XL-type dog when he went to protect his own pet.

Police have launched a search for the dog and its owner after the man was attacked near Hamnett Court in Birchwood, Warrington, on Friday.

Usual owner, semi-feral tattooed thug? Well... 

A third man helped the woman owner put her dog on a lead before she left the area.

Usual actions of the cowards that own these things, at least... 

The force is now appealing for help in tracking her down. The force described the dog as tall and slim "male XL bully-type". It was brown in colour with white patches.

A decription of the dog, but none of the owner? And no CCTV in the area? Seems they aren't trying very hard...