Dogsey

SAY ‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello to Alfie, one of Britain’s most successful police dogs who has just retired after sniffing out drugs, cash and guns worth more than £11million.

The Springer Spaniel joined Staffordshire Police in 2006 and his work with handler Julie Hargreaves, 45, has led to more than 400 arrests.

In his eight-year career, Alfie has detected £8million worth of drugs alone. And his ability to smell weapons and traces of ammunition has helped take many guns off the streets.

Julie, who has won the force’s Specialist Dog Handler of the Year award, said: “He’s the best dog I could have asked for, he constantly goes beyond expectations. It’s difficult to keep count of the times he has found things we were desperately looking for and kept the community safe.”

When not fighting crime, Alfie and Julie regularly visited children in schools. Alfie was donated to the police by a family who found his hyperactive tail wagging too much.

But Julie said: “He turned out to be the finest dog the force has ever known.”
Now nine, he is taking life easy under the Staffordshire Retired Police Dogs Scheme.