The award was presented to PC Heath Keogh, of Sutton Police Station, and Chris Lyons, Community Safety Manager, Safer Sutton Partnership Service, which manages Sutton’s community safety services, at the Kennel Club, Clarges St, London, on Friday, 3 June.
The annual awards recognise the ‘efforts of individuals, canine organisations and local authorities nationwide which have invested their time and energy into helping to train dogs and educate their owners on the importance of responsible dog ownership’.
Sutton’s Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) initiative was launched after a woman was attacked and killed by a dog in the London Borough of Sutton two days before Christmas in 2010 and has now become a blueprint for other police forces and local councils around the country.
LEAD embraces all breeds of dogs and owners from social and private housing. PC Keogh, who launched and developed the initiative, said he was thrilled to receive the second place award for the second time – the first being in 2013.
“We have now been invited by the Kennel Club to talk about LEAD and the legislation around dangerous dogs to groups affiliated to the Kennel Club,” he said.
As part of PC Keogh’s twin-edged approach, LEAD works in local communities in a positive and pro-active way by providing roadshows and talks in partnership with registered social landlords and dog charities to give advice and support to dog owners about welfare, dog chipping and dog behaviour issues.
The other key part of LEAD is that it captures all negative, dog related reports including dog attacks on people and other animals, dog welfare and dog fouling. This provides vital information for police to work in partnership with other organisations – providing a documented history that’s sufficiently robust to be presented as evidence in Court if necessary.
LEAD has been included in a Government handbook for police forces and partner agencies as an example of best practice. It has been introduced across North Wales and in parts of Hertfordshire, Surrey and Merseyside and is set to be rolled out across the whole of the capital later this year having already been adopted by many boroughs in London.