Episode 3 Animal 24:7

Britain's animals are under threat.

All too often, our wildlife and domestic pets are victims of cruelty

and persecution and neglect.

Fighting to save them is a dedicated band of people trying to protect and care for them around the clock.

This is Animal 24:7.

Today on Animal 24:7...

It's my dog! Excuse me! Honestly, it's my dog.

Mayhem as two dogs are taken from their owner.

-I don't want dog to go!

-Fine.

The innocent victims of an illegal trade.

Keep a cold-blooded animal at the correct temperature or it will die.

-And a perilous rescue...

-I'm on the ledge now.

-..for the sheep trapped on a crumbling cliff.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

In too many parts of Britain dangerous dogs are becoming a real threat to humans and other animals.

Sadly, Newham here in East London is just such a place.

But they are tackling the problem head on.

With its razor wire and CCTV, this compound could be mistaken for a maximum security jail.

But the powerful deterrents here are to keep criminals and others out and away

from the dangerous animals that have been taken away from them.

All these dogs have been seized from owners who broke the law.

Most are pit bull types and in the wrong hands can be used as weapons to intimidate

and wreak havoc on our streets.

'Tina Delaney is Newham's animal warden and is on the front line in the battle against dangerous dogs.'

-So who are we about to meet?

-We're meeting Mano and Blackie.

Mano is a male pit bull terrier.

And Blackie is a female. They were both seized together.

-I can hear them!

-Yes.

-Will they be charming and friendly?

-They will be.

'These two dogs were seized from an owner suspected of using them for fighting.'

-Keen to get out.

-Yes. Good boy.

-So he's a pit bull type?

-Yes, he's very athletic.

You can feel how muscly he is.

That's without us building him up with a diet that would help him define that muscle

-and build it.

-But he is classed as a dangerous dog?

-He is, yes.

That's the definition by law.

There's a problem with people using dogs as status symbols, as weapons.

And intimidating people, fighting their dogs and killing local cats. They're the general complaints.

'Although Mano is good-natured with people, he is aggressive with other dogs.'

-If another dog walked in here, he would attack it.

-Really?

-And it would probably be fatal.

-And you just can't have that risk on the street.

-No.

If you have a dog that's so dangerous, athletic and powerful and an irresponsible owner with that,

you have a dog that can cause fatalities.

'Mano is just one of thousands of dangerous dogs that have been seized from our towns and cities.

'Tina and her team regularly patrol the streets, serving warrants on owners suspected of keeping

'aggressive animals. Today is no exception.

'It's late afternoon.

'We're on the road tracking down dangerous dogs and their owners.

'Our first call is to a terrorised neighbourhood.'

-What's the story?

-We've had complaints that two pit bulls are jumping into people's gardens.

We have had a problem with noise there. He's breached an abatement notice and is being prosecuted.

We've now had complaints that the dogs are pit bulls. We're just going to make sure that isn't the case.

'With police back-up, the team closes in on their target.

'No answer at the front door, so Tina tries a different approach.'

London Borough of Newham, Animal Welfare and the police.

'She asks one of the houses on the street for access to the rear.'

-It looks like the dogs aren't here. What do you think, Tina?

-No. It looks like the person's left.

There has been signs of dogs. It's quite smelly.

-Dirty, too.

-They've been scratching and biting at the door and there's old faeces. Looks like he moved out.

The neighbour said the dogs haven't been here for about a week.

Maybe because the council are prosecuting him, he's moved on.

-It's terrifying for the neighbours. They just jump the fence.

-Yeah, the fence is quite loose.

-It would be really easy for a medium-sized dog to scale that regardless of its breed.

-Really?

These are one of the things we need to stop. We're here because the dogs have been terrorising the neighbours

and we have to make sure jumping over into gardens doesn't continue.

-You can see why the neighbourhood is upset, can't you?

-Yes.

'This owner is one step ahead of the patrol.

'But our beat has only just begun.'

So here what are we expecting?

-Here we've got, allegedly, four dogs in a community...

-Four?

..that the neighbours feel are pit bull terriers.

-'This owner is quickly tracked down.'

-Animal Welfare Service.

-'Tina is able to confront him.'

-We've had a complaint about the type of dogs.

-Eh?

-The type of dogs.

-What dogs do you have?

-They're Staffs.

-Can I have a look?

-Yeah, darling.

-Thank you.

'The owner claims his dogs are Staffordshire bull terriers, a breed not on the banned list.

'Tina still needs to check. And it's not just the type of dog that's an issue here.'

-You have a community area.

-Yeah.

-A community area.

-Your neighbours are complaining that you are allowing your dogs in the community area.

-Never, darling.

'Now it's time to find out what's really going on at these flats.'

'Later:

'I realise just how dangerous Tina's job can be.'

You can see why they'd scare people if they're around a communal area.

'And cracking down on a cruel trade.'

There's an overcrowding issue. You've got five birds in a cage.

Now we're off to the Pembrokeshire coast. It's an area of outstanding beauty,

but as this next story shows, the high cliffs can also be extremely dangerous.

The Blue Lagoon in South Wales.

This former slate quarry is now a beauty spot, popular with tourists and wildlife.

Sheep graze happily high above the cliffs, but one's got into trouble.

Big trouble.

It's stuck on a crumbling ledge and is inches away from falling hundreds of feet to the rocks below.

Ah, it's there.

Oh, blimey.

Inspector Keith Hogben is part of the RSPCA's specialist Rope Rescue team and has been scrambled

into action.

Usually they see a nice bit of lush grass and they just follow the path or something down.

It's all right for the sheep to get down, but not back up.

Keith and his colleague Richard Abbott have rescued dozens of sheep here before,

but this case has an added danger - the cliff is crumbling away.

The problem is this ledge is very loose. It's not flat as well.

I haven't abseiled down there before, so there will be a lot more debris to follow as we come down.

The team begins to prepare for this hazardous operation.

Richard will man the rescue from the top of the cliff.

Whoa!

Keith and Inspector Christine McNeill will go over the edge...

just as the weather takes a turn for the worse.

It's starting to rain a bit. That's made the slate slippery.

Slip and you could injure yourself.

The climbers begin their dangerous descent.

Go, go, go, baby!

-Keith successfully negotiates the tricky terrain.

-I'm on the ledge now and on the safety, all right?

But then there's a problem.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

ROCKS TUMBLE

The cliff is falling away beneath Christine's feet.

Right. Christine's in no man's land. She's dangling there.

She's on no secure ground. She's trying to find a secure footing.

OK, tell her to find a hold. We'll shift your line first.

If need be, we'll get her to follow the path you've just done.

OK. Don't do anything until I give you the OK.

-Christine finally gets her footing.

-Nice and easy.

Keith attempts to grab the sheep.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa.

-But the animal panics and moves further down.

This cliff face is literally falling apart.

And the sheep is becoming more stressed. There's a danger it could jump.

Then suddenly Keith loses his footing

and the terrified animal panics and jumps.

Down, is he?

Everybody holds their breath.

Blimey.

But then...

The sheep nonchalantly emerges.

Yeah, it's gone to the next ledge, which I think it can walk off.

It's a great relief for Keith and the team

and the sheep trots off blissfully unaware of all the fuss.

Sheep do jump. That's one of the hazards of these cliff rescues.

I've been doing this for 10 years or so and never had an injured sheep.

They can jump 20, 30 foot. That one was fine. It trotted off on the footbridge. He's happy.

Hopefully it's learned its lesson not to go off looking for fresh grass,

but I dare say we will have another call within the month or so for another sheep at this location.

'Coming up: another animal gives Keith the runaround.'

All right!

All right...

-'And hostility on the Dangerous Dogs patrol.'

-I don't want this dog to go!

That's fine.

Exotic animals like snakes, parrots and tortoises have become popular pets.

With this demand there's been a huge rise in the trade for people selling them,

a business governed by strict rules.

But despite this, some people are prepared to ignore the law

often putting the animals' lives at risk.

Northumbria Police Station, Newcastle.

Area Command HQ.

RSPCA Inspector Trevor Walker and a team of police officers are preparing to mount a raid.

Intelligence suggests someone in the area has been illegally trading in exotic animals.

He was first prosecuted in 1994 for causing suffering to tortoises.

It must have been substantial to get a 20-year ban. Banned until 2014.

What this guy has continued to do is appears to have traded in exotics, basically parrots and tortoises.

This is a two-pronged attack. One team will visit the suspect's home, the second a lock-up

-where it's believed he's based.

-He's part of a bigger circle.

It could well lead to a lot of other things, but the first priority is if there are animals, remove them

and we'll sort it out later on.

Trevor is leading his team to the lock-up unit.

Anyone trading in exotics must have a licence.

So Trevor will be searching for evidence of illegal trading.

There are no animals inside the unit, but suspicions are raised.

The room is stacked floor to ceiling with crates designed for one thing.

-I mean, these are all tortoise boxes.

-Are they?

-Yeah.

We'll have one of these open and see what's inside.

Trevor wastes no time in looking for clues that could lead to a conviction.

So why is somebody who is disqualified in keeping animals dealing in cages?

These are obviously bird cages.

The team beings to load the vans with the boxes.

Meanwhile, across town, the other team has finished their search of the suspect's home.

Although they failed to find any animals,

they found some paperwork that opens an entirely new line of inquiry.

It appears the suspect has been supplying animal cages to another location.

-Police went straight to the second address...

-Will do. Cheers, mate.

..and now have news for Trevor.

They've got out there and there is bats and parrots there.

And there's some tortoises as well.

I think if we go round and have a look and see what condition they're in.

Trevor wants to know if these animals have been supplied by the original suspect.

He heads straight to the new address.

On arrival, it's instantly clear there are serious issues here.

Inside the dark and damp garage, the team finds parrots crammed in cages.

And tortoises being kept in inappropriate conditions.

There's an overcrowding issue. You've got five birds per cage.

Trevor believes the animals are suffering and that this man is trading in pets illegally.

When you consider that we're investigating potential dealing in exotic birds and tortoises

and we've just happened to come across exotic birds and tortoises,

the suspicion is that this is possibly part of the ring that we were looking at earlier today.

Trevor is concerned about the health of these animals.

All are seized. 10 parrots and 8 tortoises are boxed and put in the vans.

The man at this address denies any link with the other suspect, but is arrested.

-Hi, there!

-Animal collection officer Dave Dawson rushes the animals to the local vet, Jacquie Paterson.

These are actually leopard tortoises.

They come from sub-Saharan Africa,

so they're not like the classic Blue Peter tortoise that you can get away with holding in your garden.

These require very high temperatures all year round. They don't hibernate.

These tortoises are lucky to be alive, but have not come away completely unscathed.

You can also tell that these have not been well looked after

because you have this doming of the shell. It should be smooth.

This doming, we call it pyramiding, is a sign, basically, that they have not had sufficient calcium

or UV light. If you don't keep a cold-blooded animal at the correct temperature, it can't function.

It significantly affects its physiology. It may still move about, may eat a little or grow a little,

it's going to die.

It seems they've been found in time,

but now the tortoises need urgent veterinary treatment.

We need to get them warmed up, rehydrated. We'll take weights before and after they drink.

We'll almost certainly need antibiotics. I'm suspicious that they've been poorly kept.

All the tortoises are given a full examination, a shot of antibiotics and then put in a much-needed bath

to warm up and rehydrate.

Next, it's time for the parrots.

They have been crammed in a small cage, unable to spread their wings.

The back of his head's missing its feathers. That's almost certainly another bird pecking at him.

That goes on with the cage being so small. You get a large number of birds in a small space

and they pick on one of them. He's getting a bit duffed up, which isn't very pleasant.

You'll calm down, won't you?

This case has taken a completely new direction.

The RSPCA still has plenty of questions to ask and much more to investigate,

but for now at least the animals are safe and in the best place to begin their recovery.

Coming up: the injured swan determined not to give up.

It's quite upbeat. A lot of animals, you can tell if they want to live. He's got the chance to live.

The Dangerous Dogs Act bans the ownership of certain breeds,

but any dog can be a threat to the public.

Specialist units have been set up across the country to crack down on aggressive, intimidating dogs.

As I found out, it's a job that can take officers face to face with hostility.

'I'm on patrol with Tina Delaney, on the lookout for dangerous dogs in the London Borough of Newham.

'55 animals were seized in the district last year.

'Now Tina's received reports that this owner may have four pit bulls.

'Residents have also complained that the dogs are terrorising the flats.'

I'm not suggesting they're vicious, but your neighbours complained about them being in the community garden.

-'The owner agrees to show Tina his pets, but he warns they can be boisterous,'

-OK.

-They jump on you.

-That's OK.

'The owner has denied owning a banned breed,

'but after a quick glance Tina fears the opposite.'

Tony, move the van. Move the van.

-What were those instructions?

-To move the van. From the immediate look at the dogs,

two may be pit bull types.

-MAN YELLS

-'Inside, the owner is struggling to control his dogs.

'Everyone is on high alert.'

-OK. What I want to do...

-Yeah?

-..is see one of them at a time on its own.

-I'm going to give you a lead. Bring one of them at a time out.

-No problem.

'The first dog emerges gingerly from the flat.'

Hello. MAN SHOUTS

That's OK. You don't need to shout. He's fine.

-Hello.

-What are you seeing there, Tina?

-This one's just a sort of Staffie type. She's quite nervous.

-'It's calm and not a pit bull.

'But the second dog to come to the door is boisterous and powerful.

'The owner quickly loses control.'

YELLING

-'A frantic case of containment.'

-Is that door shut downstairs?

-'Four powerful dogs in a small stairwell.'

-Give me a lead.

It's chaos here. He's clearly got no control over his dogs.

-I'm not worried about him biting me.

-He won't bite you.

Thankfully, no evidence yet of them being aggressive in any way,

but you can see why they'd scare people in a communal area.

'The priority is to make sure no one else is put at risk.'

Want to grab hold of that one? Take him and put him in a room.

-'Finally, the team restores some kind of order.'

-I'm just going to hold the door, OK?

Calm down, it's OK.

'But Tina knows that something here has to change.'

Tina's gone inside, but we felt it was best if I stayed out. It was getting overheated and overexcited.

And the gentleman was a bit upset.

You can see them coming to the letterbox still.

Apparently, this is a council property and he's not allowed this many dogs here.

As to the breeds, they're having a closer look.

'If the owner doesn't agree to give up some of the dogs, he could face eviction.'

Rather than making you get rid of all four, which will upset you even more,

if you give me two...

'The owner finally realises he has no option.

'He signs over two dogs, but as they leave, it all becomes too much.'

-You make me sick!

-I understand that.

-You make me sick!

'Tempers are fraying and as the dogs emerge, the situation becomes tense again.'

MAN SHOUTS

Don't let me see them!

Good.

'Tina has to work quickly and calmly.'

Come on.

'The dogs are becoming stressed.

'And there's another barrage of hostility.'

That's my dog! Excuse me! Honestly, it's my dog.

'The owner's family and friends have now turned up and tensions are rising.'

Where are you taking him?

MAN ARGUES

'Tina and the police must now try to restore calm to a volatile situation.'

-Right, if I talk to you on your own...

-I don't want to talk to you!

-That's fine, that's fine.

Please! Leave me alone!

As you can see, it's getting quite overheated here.

One of the younger men is claiming the dogs belong to him,

rather than the gentleman who is getting very overexcited.

We'll let Tina and the police handle it.

'Tina explains to the owner's son why she had to act.'

What's going to happen is the council will evict him because he's got four dogs. If he doesn't get rid of two,

-he'll have to get rid of all four or be evicted.

-"It's been a difficult and tense job,

-'but the owner should now find it easier to cope.'

-The difficulty is living in a residential block,

using the community garden. He can't control the dogs and obviously he's an older gentleman.

When he opened the door, four dogs ran out and he was hitting them, trying to control them.

-That isn't going to work.

-And it was pretty scary for us.

-Imagine if you had toddlers or an old person.

-Yeah.

-A frail old person.

-You'd just be bamboozled by that.

-Or even just a regular member of the public.

'Tina will continue to monitor this case. If she receives any more complaints, she'll be back.

'For now, though, as darkness begins to fall, we're back on patrol.

'There's one last job Tina needs to attend.'

-What's the story behind these doors?

-We've had complaints of two dogs of a pit bull type

that he sets onto people. So we need to investigate the possibility they're pits,

but also that he has two dogs that he may set onto people.

'With allegations the dogs have been used as weapons, this could be a serious case.'

-Still to come:

-My problem is that you have a dangerous dog.

You can't use a dog as protection.

Earlier in the programme, we saw RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben rescue a sheep that was stranded.

Now he's about to embark on another difficult job. This time it's on the water.

On this canal in Cardiff, a bird needs help.

This male mute swan has damaged both wings.

He can't fly and is in real danger of being attacked by predators.

Here he is.

Let's just drop down here nice and slowly.

The RSPCA has already tried and failed to rescue him.

I'm just going to try to coax him in with some bread.

But today Inspector Keith Hogben is back with a team determined to have another go.

Both his wings are injured, damaged. We're not too sure how.

It may have been power lines or a number of reasons. He needs to come off and see a vet.

The first thing is trying to catch him. We could be here all day.

Plans to grab the bird with a swan hook are not going well.

He's very wary, isn't he, of the hooks?

So it's time to take to the water.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

OK.

The chase is on. This swan has to be caught and has to be caught now.

The team is gaining on the swan.

-Nigel manoeuvres the boat. Keith can attempt to catch it.

-Gently, gently, Nige. Hang on.

But then...

-That's the engine.

-..the boat's engine fails.

-I think he's struggling in the weed.

-Yeah.

-I know you are as well.

-OK, here we go.

-The boat closes in once more.

The longer this rescue goes on, the more stressed the swan becomes.

Keith makes his move.

All right.

All right...

-Hold him.

-SWAN HISSES AND CRIES

Fine.

-With the bird so frightened...

-Hang on.

-..Keith has to work quickly to calm it down.

You could see the swan is still very mobile and he gave us the runaround.

-The main thing is we've caught him.

-Back on dry land, the priority is medical help.

He's quickly boxed up and he's now ready for his journey to the surgery.

A mile away is Valley Vets.

Experienced bird surgeon Jordi Colas begins his examinations.

Ssh.

Right, there's nothing. I can see there's no blood.

-The colour of the mucous membrane is good.

-All right, you.

Just check there's nothing in the throat.

There are no clues as to why the bird can't fly.

-There's no obvious fractures.

-So Jordi decides further investigation is needed.

Just in case, it would make sense to take x-rays from the wing.

If the x-rays show the wing has been broken, the bird may have to be put to sleep.

Keith's tense, but the first results are promising.

-There's no indication of an obvious fracture.

-On any of the x-rays, there's no indication?

-Exactly.

So if you send him away with meds and just keep observations...?

-Well, it's not that simple.

-OK.

-Because then we have these images.

The x-rays of the bird's chest seem to indicate severe swelling and bruising.

I don't think that we have a diagnosis at the moment,

but I suspect that there may be there is an organ problem.

Now we have several options.

Option one is to see how the bird responds,

with rehabilitation, with medication based on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

But if we don't see a good response to the treatment, we will have to consider taking further tests.

It's still unclear how the swan received the injury, but Keith hopes that, given time,

-the bird may pull through.

-I'm still positive.

We haven't put him to sleep. He's hanging in there. The swan itself is quite upbeat.

A lot of animals, you can tell by their attitude if they want to live.

If he can go back to the wild 100% fit, great.

Tinkers Hill bird sanctuary.

For the past 8 weeks, the swan has been recuperating here under the care of Maria Evans.

-Is this him at the back?

-Yeah.

-Oh, wow.

He's on his feet. Hello, handsome!

It turned out he was suffering from nerve damage, but now he's fit,

healthy and ready to go home.

Nerve damage, you never know. There's no treatment for it and you never know how long it'll be.

-It's just been a case of rest?

-Yes.

-Maria rehabilitates hundreds of swans here every year.

Years of experience doing that!

And she's a dab hand at catching and carrying her patients.

-Thanks for taking him back.

-I've got the best job - releasing him!

It's a two-hour drive back to the canal where he was found.

It'll be nice to see him go.

Keith is met by Animal Collection Officer Fiona Jackson, who helped with the original rescue.

Just watch your footing here.

The swan is bright, alert and seems to sense he's home.

All right?

This is the best part of the job.

Nothing beats it. We're so privileged to be able to help wildlife out like this

and to get any wild animal back to where it's from, 100% fit, in its proper surroundings,

you can't ask for more than that. From the bit of stress he had when we caught him with the boat,

you wouldn't think it was the same swan. So I'm really pleased.

Yeah, it's made my week.

Finally, we're back with Tina Delaney who's been cracking down on dangerous dogs in Newham.

Earlier we seized two unruly animals who'd been terrorising residents in a block of flats.

Now we'd been called to a house where neighbours have complained that a dog is used as a weapon.

'Our shift on the streets of Newham is coming to a close,

'but there's one more complaint to investigate.

'There are reports that the dog at this house is being used to intimidate and attack people.'

-Where's your dogs?

-'The dog's owner doesn't speak much English, leaving her son to translate.'

-Is he OK with strange people?

-No, he just tries to protect us.

OK, you need to put him on a lead, then.

'The dog, a Shar Pei, is brought to the door. Although not on the banned list,

'there's no doubt it's aggressive.'

'It appears these owners are not in control of their dog. Tina is extremely concerned.'

My concern is that if this dog is walked out in a public place,

he may actually attack people.

'With the dog locked away, Tina can ask her questions.'

If you had the dog and I asked you the time, how would he respond?

How would it behave?

THEY DISCUSS IN OWN LANGUAGE

My mum says he may attack.

OK. My problem is that you have a dangerous dog. Can you tell that to your mum?

'But the owner explains there is a reason why her dog is aggressive.

'She feels vulnerable in the area and uses the dog as protection.'

So your mum's saying she's scared to go out, yeah? Scared out?

You can't use a dog as protection. It's against the law. Your dog needs to be muzzled in a public place.

We've had complaints about him being aggressive.

'Tina is left in no doubt - this dog is a threat to the public.'

This needs to be taken further. When he's out, it's a case of when he's going to bite, not if.

-Can I have something with your mum's name on it, please?

-'Action needs to be taken.'

The story behind that door is it's not a banned breed. It's a Shar Pei, but it seemed pretty aggressive

and the mother in the house suggested it's quite...aggressive when it meets people on the street.

So Tina thinks it should be muzzled. That's what she's getting across.

-'The family is served with a restriction order.'

-As soon as you go outside with the dog,

you must have a muzzle on him. Thank you very much.

'This dog must now wear a muzzle every time it leaves the house.'

That was apparently a family who didn't want to cause harm.

-They were fearful, not aggressive.

-No, not aggressive themselves,

but she's saying in the community she's very afraid and she needs something to protect her.

She's using him to protect her.

What our difficulty is, if somebody approaches her to ask the time or just ask her a question,

then the dog will bite. what he's just said is if he shakes the dog's lead, the dog attacks.

He's taught the dog to do that. So it's not a pit bull type and is not by law dangerous,

through its sheer nature and training it is being used as a weapon.

'Tina will check on this case. If the dog is seen out without a muzzle, it could be seized.

'It's half past nine. Our patrol has now come to an end,

'but before we call it a night we need to settle down the two dogs from earlier.'

A bit less crazy now, aren't you?

'A couple of hours ago, Simba and Wine were seized from an irate owner.'

-Give me a lead.

-'It was a stressful situation for all,

'but especially the dogs.'

-They look all right now they're out. A bit less mad.

-Yes.

What does the future hold for these two immediately?

Both will be assessed. They seem to be quite nice dogs.

A bit nervous at the moment coming in to a new environment. They probably haven't been walked much.

He's an elderly gentleman with four dogs. They'll need socialising.

What I'm quite encouraged about is they're more likely to find a home.

When I saw them charging about, I wasn't sure who'd want them.

The test is whether they're OK with strange dogs and how they are once they feel more confident.

It's interesting how much calmer they seem here. In that hall they were crashing about.

-In the flat they were going crazy.

-They had a very small environment.

The four of them form a pack. They are more boisterous.

He's not got any control over them.

Here it's new, they're not together and they're easier to manage.

We need to get these two a square meal and into a kennel. Just before we get rid of them,

we started the day thinking we might find a few banned breeds, pit-type breeds. In the end, we didn't,

but we found dogs causing problems.

Often, once people see a kind of bull-breed dog, they don't know a pit bull from a Staff or cross.

They just see this broad head and those kind of eyes and think, "It's a pit bull!"

Absolutely. The main thing is, it's positive. We've gone out, executed a few warrants,

we haven't found any banned breeds, so we're doing our job properly. There's hardly any about.

We have found a few problems, we'll hopefully help to solve.

-These two will go, hopefully, to a nice home. The Shar Pei...

-Will get a muzzle on.

So it can't cause a problem and it prevents a bite, hopefully.

We haven't seized any banned breeds, but we have made a difference.

'These dogs will now undergo assessments to find out whether they are safe to get new homes.

'It's a month later and time to check on Simba and Wine's progress.

'They have both passed all their personality tests

'and are now blossoming in the kennels.'

They are really gentle and nice.

She's got a bit more energy and needs more training than he does.

But they are very soft and gentle, they're OK with other dogs, nice with people.

'Simba and Wine's story was one of two dogs in the wrong home and there is a happy ending.'

We're confident of them being re-homed. We have got a few rescues on the list.

When a space is available, they'll go to that, neutered and vaccinated.

'But for Tina, her work to improve the lives of dogs like these

'and make our streets a safer place will continue.'

Good boy.

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Subtitles by Subtext for Red Bee Media Ltd - 2010

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