At 1 August 2008, holdings of Military Working Dogs by type were:
Type Total Patrol Dogs 512 Army/RAF Police 21 Police Dogs 223 Arms and Explosive Search 89 Vehicle Search 35 Drug Detection 8 Multi Purpose Drug Detection 11 Tracker 10 Infantry Patrol 2 Explosive Detection Dog 0 Total 911
This figure is a snapshot in time, and includes those dogs being trained, those in service in the UK and those deployed on operations. It should be noted that the number of holdings may vary weekly according to training input and outflow, together with operational demand. The Ministry of Defence is currently reviewing its holdings of Military Working Dogs to ensure that its holdings meet its requirements.
Information for previous years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
The approximate average cost of training a successful dog by type in 2006-07 (the latest year for which data are available) is shown in the following table.
Type of dog Cost per successful dog (£) Patrol Dogs 8,200 Army/RAF Police Dogs 15,000 MOD Police Dogs 1— Arms and Explosives Search Dogs 22,600 Vehicle Search Dogs 7,300 Multi Purpose Drug Detection Dogs 15,500 Tracker Dogs 8,500 1 Training a Ministry of Defence police or Military Guard Service dog up to the point on its introduction into service will cost the same as training an Army or RAF police dog. Wethersfield dog section provides further continuous annual training for all MOD police dogs. The cost of this additional training is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Since November 2006, approximately 250 dogs have died in service. It is not possible to break down this figure by type of dog, location or circumstances. However, in the majority of cases (around 55 per cent.) death occurred at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray, as this is where many dogs are returned at the end of their service.
Figures are not available prior to November 2006, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
At 1 August 2008, there were 1,087 military working dog handlers across Defence. Of these, there were none in the Royal Navy, 178 were with the Army and 199 were with the Royal Air Force. The remaining 710 dog handlers were with the various policing and guarding services across the Ministry of Defence.
Data for previous years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.