Almost £60,000 spent on kennelling and vet bills by police

The request, which was sent by the Dorset Echo, also uncovered that over the past three years a total of 36 dogs were seized of which 13 were disposed or euthanised by the force.

The force confirmed that dogs can be euthanised for a number of reasons with three put to sleep in 2019, four in 2020 and six last year.

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police said: “A dog is euthanised either by one of the following reasons: an instruction from the court, the owner is having a dog euthanised and asked for police assistance or the police have a dog put to sleep because it is so dangerous it would be irresponsible to allow it back out into the public environment.”

The original freedom of information (FOI) request stated that it was unknown how many dogs were seized by Dorset Police in 2019 but later it was uncovered that figure was four.

In 2020 that figure came out at 17 and then 15 for 2021.

For the 2020-21 financial year the FOI also originally stated £0 was spent on kennelling and vet bills but this figure later transpired to be more than £6,000.

In response to why the figure was originally £0 in the freedom of information request data, the spokeswoman for Dorset Police added: “We have been advised that the actual cost spent during the year 2020-2021 was approximately £6,500.

“This figure was lower than other years due to the Covid-19 lockdown periods, meaning fewer people were out socialising in public.

“The cost of bills and kennelling is completely dependent upon how many dogs are kept for what length of time and any additional costs needed for vet bills depending on the welfare needs of the dog.”

The figure for kennelling and vet bills in 2021 up until March 10 of the current year was more than £20,000 greater than the previous year at £27,362, compared with the approximate £6,500 in 2020-21.

Back in the financial year of 2019-2020 a total of £24,282 was spent on kennelling and vet bills by Dorset Police.