Police are searching for a rioter who smashed a police dog in the face with a brick as a far-right mob tried to burn down a hotel amid the ongoing violent disorder across the UK.
Vixen the police dog was attacked as officers tried to protect the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth, Staffordshire, on Sunday night.
As a group of rioters tried to storm the hotel, Vixen suffered a deep gash above her right eye, which required medical treatment, as she tried to stop them from entering the building.
Footage of the vile assault was captured on social media and officers say they are working to identify the attacker.
“Police dogs are considered just as important as their human counterparts and so we are launching a full investigation to identify who assaulted a valued police dog," said Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Ellison.
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“We believe there is footage of the incident circulating on social media, so if anyone can share the footage or help us identify those involved, we can seek justice for our canine colleague.
“The violence seen in Tamworth has been abhorrent, with two other police dogs injured too, and I know members of the public will be disgusted that a beautiful animal like Vixen has been harmed whilst trying to keep people safe.”
An officer was also left with a suspected broken arm during Sunday's disorder, which saw rioters aiming fireworks and other objects at police.
Windows were smashed, and three petrol bombs were thrown at the Holiday Inn in an attempt to set the building alight.
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It was just one example of a wave of violent unrest in England and Northern Ireland after the Southport stabbings.
Riots have swept across the nation after misinformation circulated online following the fatal stabbings of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, at a Taylor Swift-theme dance class in Southport on 29 July.
Axel Rudakubana, 17, was arrested over the attack and has been charged with murder. Soon after his arrest, misinformation circulated that he was an illegal immigrant who had crossed the Channel on a small boat - leading to far-right riots in Southport and beyond.
Watch: Hull Streets Littered With Debris After Riots and Looting
On Monday Staffordshire Police said 10 people had been arrested and two charged over disorder during the weekend in Tamworth and Stoke-on-Trent, adding that "more will come".
The National Police Chief's Council (NPCC) said on Monday that 378 arrests had been made nationally over the riots, with numbers expected to rise each day as the organisation promised a "united and robust policing response”.
How often are police animals hurt on duty?
More than 100 service animals were injured in the line of duty between 2012 and 2019, according to campaigners who pushed for a change in a law to provide better protection for police dogs and horses.
Among these cases, animals have been beaten with iron bars, kicked or hit by cars.
The National Police Chief's Council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs were unable to provide more up-to-date figures when asked by Yahoo News.
Hurting these animals now comes with a higher penalty thanks to the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act 2019, also known as "Finn’s Law", which came into force in England and Wales in June 2019.
The law was named after Finn, a police dog who was stabbed whilst pursuing a robbery suspect with his handler PC David Wardell.
The German Shepherd is credited with saving his handler's life after the suspect turned on the pair with a hunting knife.
PC Wardell was wounded on the hand, while Finn sustained serious stab wounds to the chest and head, but only criminal damage charges could be brought against his attacker.
The law, which makes an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, creates the criminal offence of "unnecessary suffering" in relation to animals.
On the face of it, the law prevents those who attack or injure service animals from claiming self-defence, although the bill's explanatory notes say they may be able to do so if the animal "attacked them unduly".
In 2021, Parliament passed the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, which increased the statutory maximum sentence for some animal cruelty offences from six months’ to five years’ in custody.
This penalty covers causing unnecessary suffering, carrying out a non-exempted mutilation, docking a dog's tail except where permitted, poisoning an animal and involvement in an animal fight. Similar legislation has since been passed in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Finn recovered from his injuries and returned to duty, before retiring in 2017. The dog found a new life in entertainment, performing tricks alongside Wardell on the stage at Britain's Got Talent 2019 – making it into the final.
The heroic dog passed away in July 2023, aged 14.
