Police thank football club for training su-paw-t

A police force thanked an EFL football club for facilitating training sessions for its police sniffer dogs.

Northamptonshire Police said its dog section had been using Northampton Town's Sixfields Stadium to practice "situations they are likely to encounter in live deployments".

The force said the "keen noses" of Bonnie, Socks and Rosie, specialised in finding items including drugs, cash and firearms.

The animals' skills were put to the test around the stadium's bar, changing rooms, toilets, concourse areas and stands as part of their training.

PC Sam Clark, from Northamptonshire Police's dog unit, said: "By putting them [the police dogs] through their paces in busy areas full of different smells, different floorings and with different noises, we know that when we need them on an investigation, they are really well prepared to go and do the most effective search possible.

"We're very appreciative of the club letting us use the stadium for our training, they're really supportive and the dogs and their handlers have also enjoyed getting a little look behind the scenes with the Cobblers."

Avril Spraggon, the club's facilities manager, said: "We work very closely with Northamptonshire Police in a number of ways and we were only too pleased to help the training of the dog section here at the stadium.

"The handlers and the dogs are very welcome visitors to Sixfields, and we hope the stadium has proved a useful training setting for them."

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