FAREWELL FINN
Your Dog joins the canine community in paying tribute to Finn, the former police dog who changed the landscape of UK animal welfare, after he passed away peacefully in his sleep aged 14.
The German Shepherd won the nation’s hearts in 2016 when he suffered near-fatal injuries while protecting his handler, PC Dave Wardell, from a knife-wielding assailant in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
Finn was left with serious head and chest wounds, but the incident kick-started a campaign to change the law, which previously viewed attacks on service animals as ‘criminal damage’.
As a result, the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act — known as Finn’s Law — was passed in 2019.
Following the brave dog’s retirement in 2017, he became a canine celebrity, appearing on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and winning the prestigious Kennel Club Friends for Life competition at Crufts in 2019.
A heartbroken Dave said: “I’m completely lost without him and miss him so much.” The Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a national charity that celebrates and supports retired and serving police dogs, added: “Finn, your legacy will live on; may you stand down with pride.”
COCKAPOO SECURES ROLE AT LOCAL STORE
A dog has been hired as the UK’s first-ever high street store manager — or paw manager — after refusing to pass her local Wilko without dragging her owners inside.
Eight-year-old Jazz, who’s become a canine celebrity in Chippenham, Wiltshire, has even been issued with her own custom-made name badge and red uniform.
The Cockapoo always makes a beeline for the pet aisle to check out the latest treats in the store, which is one of 248 dog-friendly Wilkos nationwide.
● As YD went to press, Wilko stores were still open despite the company going into administration, but their future remains uncertain.
CHARITY’S BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR SEES THOUSANDS REPORT CRUELTY
The RSPCA has launched its Cancel Out Cruelty campaign after receiving 4,060 calls — or six a minute — to its cruelty line in just one day.
“We take more than a million calls a year,” said Tom Buckley, hub manager at the charity’s national control centre in Barnsley. “The calls we receive are heartbreaking — it can be a report of animals being beaten, shot, abandoned, or poisoned.”
Last year, there were 1,798 calls relating to animals entangled in ‘lethal��
