Leading Fire-fighter Nick Miles of the Arson Task Force, with Zurich Dog Cappa
and Zurich Dog William, and veterinary nurse Martin Osborne.

LOSING A dog can lead to hours of heartache, but when you are two of only 12 Fire Service Dogs in the country there is more than normal at stake.

Based at Plympton and covering much of the south west as part of the Arson Task Force, Labradors Cappa and William have recently been identichipped to guard against being lost,

The dogs are supported by Tavistock based Westmore Veterinary Centre who provide all the boosters and health checks. Identichips were provided courtesy of Animalcare.

Leading Fire Fighter Nick Miles handles Cappa and William and has spent many hours training the dogs.

Said Nick: ‘When arson is suspected, the dogs will help to track down the cause of the fire and where it has started.

‘It takes a long time to train a Fire Service dog and therefore we want to do everything to ensure that if they do run off or are lost, they can easily be traced.

‘However well trained a dog is, at times it is their natural instinct to wander off. We are very fortunate to have the support of Westmore Veterinary Centre and it is wonderful that Identichip are now helping us.

‘We decided it was important to get Cappa and William Identichipped as they are very valuable and highly trained. It is vital they have reliable, positive identification on them, and we felt the microchip system was the safest.’

Distributed by York-based Animalcare, Identichip has registered more than 800,000 animals in the UK, selling over 1 million microchips since launch.

Animalcare Marketing Manager Andy Pound said: ‘We are delighted to be working with the Arson Task Force who carry out such marvellous work.’