Police dogs get the boot

THERE’S GOOD news for police dogs in the German city of Düsseldorf. They are getting US-made boots with thick rubber soles so that they don't cut their paws while chasing criminals around the city.

Police dogs have been issued with the smart blue boots to protect their paws.

The dogs will wear the boots while policing demonstrations and patrolling the city's old town. ‘When they're on assignment in the Düsseldorf old town we often get problems with discarded bottles and other rubbish which could injure the animals,’ a police spokesman told the German newspaper Spiegel Online.

The boots, which have thick rubber soles, were bought in the US and the dogs will start using them on assignment this month, once they have got used to them, police said.

Since the new uniform policy was reported in the local media the police have been inundated with enquiries from dog owners who want to know where they can get the boots in order to provide protection for their own pets.