New figures released this week have shown that police forces across the UK have been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds in personal injury compensation to people bitten by police dogs.
Under a Freedom of Information Act request from BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme, it was disclosed that GBP 770,000 has been paid over the past three years to people injured by the animals, with the largest sums from Greater Manchester Police.
One victim received GBP 49,000 in compensation, while 2,725 suspects, 196 police personnel and 155 members of the public were bitten during the timeframe.
In one instance, Cheshire Police awarded a 13-year-old boy with a dog phobia a payout after he was bitten by one of the specially-trained canines.
Meanwhile, in another, GBP 7,000 was provided for a man in Durham who had been jogging past a police dog being exercised by its off-duty handler.
Assistant chief constable Nick Ingram from the Association of Chief Police Officers' (Acpo) police dogs unit denied that the animals are dangerous.
"The Acpo Police Dog Working Group seeks to ensure that optimum performance is achieved from these valuable resources and that the training, deployment and management of dogs is constantly improved, devised and developed whilst maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and welfare," he added.
According to the Metropolitan Police, general purpose dogs are usually German or Belgian Shepherds and can search for suspects, locate objects dropped during pursuits and detain a person who runs away when challenged by an officer to stop.
Spaniels and Labradors are typically used to find specific scents such as drugs, cash or explosives.
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