Photohumph Supports:

Photohumph now supports the Durham Retired Police Dogs Benevolent Fund PAWSUP.

Durham Police Dog Support Unit have recently implemented a Benevolent fund to support our retired Police Dogs. A kind of pension fund for them really. 
Historically, there has been no provision to assist with the day to day costs of looking after the animals as they put their ‘paws up'. It is the responsibility of the handler or new owner to cover general costs and often considerable vets bills etc. 
The scheme will form part of the ‘Durham Agency Against Crime’ (DAAC) registered charity. 
There will be public displays and events to promote the scheme, raise funds and awareness, and we have already gained support from the public and businesses both in the UK and overseas.
All our dogs, upon retiring, are either kept by their handler or kindly re homed by generous members of the public, friends, family and colleagues  This is normally at about the age of 8 -10 years.
Until this point, all costs are borne by the constabulary 
Our vision is to establish the benevolent fund with it being financially stable enough to be able to help with costly initial expenses, for example- pet insurance, food, toys, bedding, vouchers for dog products and discounted veterinary, grooming and even training services. 
This has been a long time in the making and after a lot of hard work, we  launched the scheme to the public, with an official open day and display in June 2013, which proved a tremendous success. 
This is a huge 'first' for our region, in the North East of England, and there are only a couple of forces in the country that are running similar schemes. 
Our Police dogs provide a tremendous service to our communities for the best part of their working lives and we want to provide the best possible life for them for their retirement.