Swedish police dogs are being moved from kennels to the back seats of vehicles following two years of complaints from handlers about animal welfare issues, according to a report from SVT Väst. The change comes after dog handlers nationwide raised concerns that their dogs were suffering psychological distress while traveling in kennels at the back of police vehicles. Hannah BlomBergelin, a police dog handler in Göteborg, reportedly stated that handlers had indicated potential problems when the vehicles with kennels were first introduced.
The Swedish Board of Agriculture (Jordbruksverket) had previously demanded larger kennels, leading to new pickup-style vehicles with insulated compartments for the dogs. However, handlers continued to report that the dogs showed signs of distress during travel. BlomBergelin described how her service dog 'Översten' constantly panted in the kennel and never relaxed, prompting her to turn off the monitoring cameras because she couldn't bear to watch.
The police department is now implementing changes to move the dogs to the back seats of vehicles instead.