Death of Police Dog Zara from Police Scotland

Following last week’s article in the Sunday Mail regarding the death of Police Dog Zara from Police Scotland, our foundation wrote to Chief Constable Jo Farrell and requested an investigation into Zara’s death.

Police dogs are policing colleagues—they hold the thin blue line in some of the most challenging and highly dangerous incidents. They would give their lives in a heartbeat to protect their handler and the wider policing family.

It is our collective responsibility to ensure they are treated with the utmost respect and that no expense is spared in their access to veterinary treatment.

A copy of our open letter sent to Police Scotland is below.

Open letter to Chief Constable Jo Farrell:

Subject: Death of Police Dog Zara

Dear Chief Constable Jo Farrell,

We are writing from the Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a national charity founded in 2020 that supports, rehabilitates, protects, and celebrates serving and retired police dogs from across the United Kingdom. Since our inception, we have supported over 150 retired police dogs and provided over £330,000 in veterinary grants, including to those who have retired from Police Scotland.

Last week, our foundation was contacted by a journalist working on behalf of the Sunday Mail, requesting a comment regarding the passing of Police Dog Zara from Police Scotland in December 2024. We were informed that the cause of Zara’s passing was euthanasia due to injuries she sustained following a collision with a vehicle while off duty.

Prior to providing an official comment to the Sunday Mail regarding the article, we contacted your corporate communications team to gather as much information about the incident as possible, ensuring we provided a fair and balanced response. The foundation was provided with the following statement:

“A Police Scotland spokesperson said: ‘On Wednesday, 11 December 2024, Police Dog Zara was involved in a crash with a car on Couper Angus Road, Kirkhill.

PD Zara was immediately provided with emergency veterinary care.

The accident resulted in multiple serious injuries for PD Zara. During treatment, further complications were discovered.

It was decided the best course of action for PD Zara was to euthanise her, and she was put to sleep on Friday, 13 December.

Police dogs are a very important part of our policing community, and any loss is felt deeply by their colleagues, our officers and staff. The welfare of our dogs is always the priority in any decision relating to their medical care.’”

Unfortunately, the above statement is contradictory to the anonymised comment provided by a senior representative within Police Scotland to the journalist, which stated that Zara’s prospects for recovery following surgery were positive, and that she could return to duty after a period of rehabilitation.

The foundation is deeply concerned by the incident involving PD Zara, and so are the thousands of members of the public from across the United Kingdom, who have contacted us following the article’s publication.

Police dogs across the United Kingdom are on the front line 24/7, 365 days a year, keeping communities safe, catching criminals, and finding missing people. They undertake their duties selflessly, with remarkable heroism and bravery. It is only right, therefore, that these heroic dogs are provided with access to the very best veterinary care when they are injured, and that no expense is spared in both saving a dog’s life and ensuring that, whether they return to duty or retire, they are given the opportunity to thrive following their service.

Police dogs are policing colleagues—they hold the blue line in some of the most challenging and highly dangerous incidents. They would give their lives in a heartbeat to protect their handler and the wider policing family, and it is our collective responsibility to ensure that they are treated with the utmost respect.

Our foundation has a strong history of advocating and campaigning for police dogs, with our founding team leading the campaign for Finn’s Law, which provided greater protection for police dogs across the United Kingdom, making it a specific offence to cause unnecessary suffering to a service animal. This legislation was introduced following an 18-month campaign after the stabbing of Police Dog Finn in 2016, from Hertfordshire Constabulary, whose offender could only be charged with criminal damage due to a gap in the law.

Police dogs are now afforded the same protection in law as their human colleagues, and Scotland was the first country within the United Kingdom to adopt Finn’s Law.

We would therefore like to request that Police Scotland commission an independent investigation into the death of PD Zara and the decision-making surrounding her passing, to ensure that organisational lessons are learned from the incident, and most importantly, to ensure that future veterinary care for police dogs under your ownership as the Chief Constable, is not refused or restricted due to funding issues.

To restore public confidence, we would request that an investigation report into the incident be published in full, to ensure transparency and accountability.

The Foundation would welcome Police Scotland holding a memorial event for PD Zara to pay tribute to her life of service and celebrate the important role that she and other police dogs play in keeping us all safe.

We look forward to hearing from you in relation to the above.

Many thanks,

Board of Trustees

Thin Blue Paw Foundation

CC:

The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP – Secretary of State for Scotland

The Rt Hon Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP – Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire of the United Kingdom

The Rt Hon Angela Constance – Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs and MSP for MSP for Almond Valley

The Rt Hon Siobhian Brown – Minister for Victims and Community Safety and MSP for MSP for Ayr

The Rt Hon Douglas Ross – MSP for Highlands and Islands

The Rt Hon Liam Kerr – MSP for North East Scotland

The Rt Hon Mairi Gougeon – MSP for Angus North and Mearns