'I've won the dog lottery': Wiltshire Police Constable welcomes new canine companion Stan

After 13 weeks of hard training, Wiltshire Police has a new recruit, a 17-month-old German Shepherd.

Stan and his handler PC Leanne Kavanagh can now work together across the county after being granted their licence, which means Stan is safe and controlled in his role. 

PC Kavanagh said: "Stan is very driven to work, he’s a really nice balanced dog. I feel like I’ve won the dog lottery.

"When we go out in the morning and I lift the lid of the dog van, Stan knows he’s going to work.

"He’s crying to get in, because he loves it. It’s all games to him, it’s all fun."

General purpose police dogs like PD Stan help with a number of tasks.

These include searching for missing people, looking for property discarded by offenders and helping keep order at events such as football matches.

Stan came from the Devon and Cornwall puppy scheme, where he was taken everywhere from music festivals to the beach.

All these experiences helped to prepare him for his future career.

Paul Glennon, Canine Development Officer for Devon and Cornwall Police, awarded the pair with their certificate.

Glennon said : "I like them to go to a force where they go directly to a handler and they’re supervised. I know Wiltshire look after their dogs.

"I always try to find out how they (our pups) are doing, mainly for the puppy walkers.

"The families that they started out with, they need to know how they’re doing. It’s almost like one of their children have gone off to university."