Meet the police's new recruits! (From Chelmsford Weekly News)

Meet the police's new recruits!

11:10am Thursday 4th February 2010

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ESSEX Police has three new recruits. Gizmo, Oso and Dibley are 13-week-old springer spaniel puppies who are brothers.

They were bought from Jill Lewis, from Rayleigh, and are now going through their paces at the police’s dog unit based at Woodhill Road, Sandon, near Chelmsford, where they will be trained as sniffer dogs.

The £2,000 cost of buying and training them has come from the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Inspector Louise Beattie, the mounted and dog inspector, put in the successful bid for funding. Claire Elliott, spokeswoman for the unit, explained one of the puppies – Dibley – would be trained by Insp Beattie and would be used for the Olympics in 2012.

She said: “They have about six weeks training at the unit, then go out and do on the job training.”

The brothers’ parents were Kennel Club champions. The unit is always looking for suitable puppies for training, particularly springer and cocker spaniels.

If you have puppies aged eight weeks to 18 months that are too lively for a home environment, contact Essex Police on 0300 3334444 for further information.

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