A dog found wandering the streets abandoned now has a happier life and has earned herself the honourable title of Police Dog.
In October 2023, the two-year-old Belgian Malinois was found by a member of the public wandering up and down the road and pavement near Sainsbury’s, Uxbridge Road.
The dog was collected as a stray and found to be very underweight and in a poor state.
Further investigations revealed that just before her free roaming, she had been tied up to a road sign further down London Road for several hours in pouring rain, before she managed to free herself.
It was discovered she had been through several previous owners in her short life, prior to being abandoned.
No one came forward to claim her, so after the statutory holding period of seven days, she was put up for rehoming.
This is where her story takes a happier turn.
One of the kennelling providers used by the council became aware of the dog, took her on and did some initial rehabilitation work. They named her Mally.
Once this was successful, they put her forward to the Ministry of Defence, Prison Service and the police for potential rehoming as a service dog.
The police immediately saw Mally’s talents and how good she was during her assessment, so they took her on to see if she would make the grade as a police dog.
In July, Mally (now named Cleo) made the grade passing out as a full-fledged Police Dog for Herts and Beds Police and is now working to make the streets safer and to tackle crime in communities.
Councillor Ishrat Shah, lead member for equalities, public health and public protection, said: “This is a wonderful story which shows how a bad start doesn’t have to mean a bad ending. Things could have been different for Cleo, as her rehoming prospects looked bleak.
“Having someone take a chance on her and take the time to train her is fantastic. Cleo obviously put in the hard work too and is now making her mark in her new job.
“This also shows the efforts made by the council’s resilience and enforcement team who deal with unclaimed stray or abandoned dogs and other animals, to either find them forever homes or to find a way for them to become successful working animals.”