UK cops burdened by kennelling costs of seized dangerous dogs

Police in Britain say they are struggling to cope with the cost of kennelling thousands of potentially dangerous dogs that have been seized across UK, known as a nation of dog lovers.
During the past five years, more than 7,000 dogs have been kennelled in England, costing a whopping five million pounds to the exchequer.
During the same period, police spent 1 million pounds on kennelling 55,000 police dogs.
The Dogs Trust charity said it was "wasteful public spending". Police described the costs as a "burden", the BBC reported.
The dogs kennelled by police across UK include those dangerously out of control, animals suspected of being on the dangerous dogs list and those whose carer is in custody.

Deputy Chief Constable Gareth Pritchard, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for dangerous dogs, said he was "very aware of the burden being placed on already stretched police finances" by kennelling such dogs.

He said: "National guidance will be released shortly which will offer advice to all forces to assist, where appropriate, in the returning of dogs pending the case being finalised at court.
The NPCC said police had a responsibility under the Animal Welfare Act, and on humanitarian grounds, to look after a dog if its carer was taken in to custody.
According to a Freedom of Information request by BBC to all police forces in England, the longest period of time a dog was kept was 985 days, in Hertfordshire, with the average amount spent per seized and dangerous dog being 650 pounds.

Nottinghamshire Police said a dog's stay was dependent on the type of offence, the owners and the courts, with the average cost of keeping a dog being 10-12 pounds per day.
A police spokesman said: "The force recognises this is a problem although timescales are largely dictated by the courts.
"Where a dog is being held in kennels, the court will be advised that unnecessary delays will place heavy costs on police budgets and can have an adverse impact on the animal's welfare."
The costs of police dogs are lower as they are usually kept with their handlers.
Britain last year amended laws to give new legal powers to police and local authorities to tackle irresponsible dog ownership. Under this, a dog owner who breeds or trains an animal to attack people, and then whose dog kills someone, could be jailed for up to 14 years.

A spokeswoman from the Crown Prosecution Service said it "does not have a policy relating specifically to dogs being kept in kennels during criminal proceedings against their owners".