Northumbria Police animals enjoy Christmas too

While many of us will be sitting down to our Christmas dinners and watching television specials of our favourite shows, our region's police officers will be on duty keeping the public safe.

However, the officers of Northumbria Police will not be alone as they pursue criminals this winter because they will be joined by some of our fantastic police animals.

Both the Dog Section and the Mounted Section, who are a part of the Operations Department, will be on duty across the festive period.

But don’t worry they’ll both get a chance to sit down to their own version of a Christmas dinner, with the dog handlers taking their canine colleagues home with them at the end of their shift and the horses enjoying a juicy Christmas carrot or two in our police stables.

Chief Inspector Dave Gould, Operations Department, said: "Our police animals are a vital asset to the Force and the work they carry out is key to our investigations. Many of our officers work incredibly hard keeping the public safe this Christmas and our police animals are no different. We always make sure they are well looked after and they do the same for our officers.

"The public really enjoy keeping up-to-date with what they’re up to on social media and no doubt they’ll see both our dogs and horses out on duty over the upcoming weeks. If you see our officers and animals about this Christmas please stop and say hello, they love engaging with the public as the support from them is fantastic”