The Dog for the Deaf, a Police Horse and Two Pit Bulls Animal Saints and Sinners

-Good boy.

-Nearly half of Britain owns a pet...

Nice one, mate.

POUNDING ON DOOR It's the council and the police,

can you open the door, please?

..but man and beast don't always live together in harmony.

I've reason to believe it is your dog

and you've had it for a fair few years and not two weeks.

When things go wrong, animal wardens are there to protect our pets...

..and keep their owners in check.

I'm not having my dog taken!

I love you too.

But for some of us, our animals are more than just pets...

I wouldn't know what to do without him.

..they can change and even save lives.

I owe my life to these horses.

This is Animal Saints And Sinners.

Coming up - police support is needed to seize two suspected pit bulls...

He's not a pit, he don't look like a pit, he's a Staff.

..Animal Welfare officers are concerned

that two dogs are being ill-treated...

To shut it in that box isn't suitable.

..and we meet two animals whose loyalty and bravery

have had a huge impact on their owners' lives.

However dangerous it is, he's always been tremendously brave.

I've been blessed to be able to ride him.

The Borough of Newham in East London is a sprawling urban area

with many social problems, especially for Animal Welfare

Manager Tina Delaney and Senior Welfare Officer Sue Heathcote.

Animal Welfare, can I help you?

Tina and Sue have just started their shift.

I don't think that that dog should be with that person at that premises.

They're following up reports of pit bulls,

a banned breed of dog, being kept as pets.

If a banned dog is on public property,

they have the power to seize it,

but today they're visiting owners' homes, so need a court warrant...

..and police backup.

PC Sean Pickering is in charge of the operation.

OK, today, we've got three warrants we've got from

Thames Magistrates Court, all for dangerous dogs.

They're particularly worried about one of the owners.

We've done some checks on police systems and PNC,

the owner of the dog is known to police for affray,

where she was fighting in the street,

again the intention is to attend the address

with the warrant and seize the dog.

Must be in possession of body armour and PPE equipment.

When you have a warrant, you can enter the premises

and we need to be able to do that with the police.

We do that for our protection

and they deal with the humans on site and we deal with the dogs.

So we prevent anything happening untoward with the dogs

and they do the same with the people on the premises.

So it's good partnership working. It's just a necessity, really.

The law states that dogs are prohibited

and we have reports about them, then we have to act on

those reports so it's just part of the job.

This is a return visit for Tina.

A year ago, she suspected a puppy at the address

had been bred as a pit bull.

At the time she couldn't tell its breed but now it's older,

it needs to be taken away for an official assessment.

Still filled with dog faeces.

Pit bulls were originally bred as fighting dogs and are banned due to

their temperament and the increasing number of attacks on people.

KNOCKING ON DOOR

-Hello, can you open the door, please?

-I ain't got no clothes on.

Well, you need to get some clothes on and open the door cos we've got a warrant.

If you don't open the door...

So, can you open the door?

OK.

With officers covering the back door,

the police have the house completely surrounded.

Hello there. I'm with the council...

A teenage girl is in the house

and the dog belongs to her mother who isn't at home.

Just open the door, we need to...

The owner's daughter is reluctant to let the police in

so the officer calls her mother.

We obviously don't want to force the door but that is an issue.

We'd just like to come in and deal with the dog and then

when you get here we can speak to you about the matter, all right?

OK, well, we'll give you 10 minutes, then.

Otherwise...

If not, your daughter will open the door in 10 minutes' time, yes?

If the owner doesn't turn up in time,

the police will carry out their warning.

And with two minutes to spare, she arrives.

As Tina takes the owner to one side to tell her

they will be seizing her dog, the owner's male cousin turns up.

He also has a dog and Tina's suspicious.

-God!

-SHE MUTTERS

Unfortunately, I need to see his dog as well, in the car,

cos it's a pit.

She needs to seize the first suspected pit bull

before she deals with the second.

It's all right, come on, it's OK.

It's all right.

To identify a pit bull type breed, its body proportions are measured.

Tina has the authority to do this

but will also take the dog to get an assessment

from an independent expert.

If the dogs aren't pit bulls,

they'll be returned to the owners straightaway,

but if they are, the owners could face a £5,000 fine

and a six-month prison sentence and the dogs may be destroyed.

When you go round to somebody's house with a warrant,

you never know what to expect. And every single call is very different.

This is a piece of legislation that is very, very difficult

to enforce because ultimately the dog can pay with its life.

With the pit bull safely in the van, Tina now deals with the cousin.

-I want to have a look at your dog.

-But my dog's not in a public...

Your dog's inside a vehicle which is a public place

when the dog's in there. Dangerous Dogs Act applies within a vehicle.

-Hello!

-Come here.

Tina believes the dog is a banned breed and tells the owner that

she's taking it for assessment, along with the other dog.

Let's walk down the road and let's go and take everyone's dog, then,

cos that's what you're basically doing, isn't it?

If we see a prohibited dog in a public place, then...

I'm not accepting that. You need to arrest me now, please.

No, you need to arrest me now, please.

You need to arrest me, come on! Arrest me, arrest me, mate.

-For what?

-I'm not having my dog taken, am I?

I'm not having my dog taken off me.

Lock the back now, lock the back.

-THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

-Lock the back.

In an effort to stop Tina and Sue driving off with his dog,

the owner decides to crawl under their van.

-Don't go, he's under your van.

-Go!

-Taking the

-BLEEP.

Things are getting out of hand and we'll find out later

if the owner finally sees sense.

In Cambridgeshire, there's an animal

who's changed her young owner's life.

Our life has been made happier

because Maddy is such a wonderful dog.

Most importantly Maddy is Poppy's dog

and anything that helps Poppy helps the whole family.

Olivia Nicholson and her two children live a normal family life.

But it wasn't always that way.

When Poppy was born three months prematurely,

Olivia didn't know whether she would survive.

Poppy initially had a duct her heart that hadn't closed properly.

She ended up with a pulmonary haemorrhage.

She caught a skin condition called scalded skin syndrome

which ate all of her skin up

and I can only describe that her small, tiny body

at that stage was like a bird which had come out of its shell too early.

I had no idea until then how much premature babies can suffer,

how horrific it is for them,

and for the parents and what a roller coaster ride it is.

After weeks of worry, Poppy pulled through,

but there was more anxiety to come.

When she was about 18 months or so, I realised that

I would walk into her room but she wouldn't hear me as I said her name.

After tests, it was discovered that Poppy's early ill-health

had left her with a disability.

She is severely deaf in one ear

and moderately severely deaf in another ear.

With almost complete deafness, Poppy relied on hearing aids

during the day, but they were too uncomfortable to wear in bed.

Now aged 12 it's still something she has problems with.

Once I took my hearing aids out, I would feel isolated.

I used to get up all the time and...

..because I wanted to check my parents were still there

and even though it might sound a bit like, "Oh,

"yes, your parents are there," but when you're deaf you don't know.

As Poppy couldn't sleep at night, it affected her concentration

and her confidence.

With confidence, every child wants to be the same, the usual way,

and Poppy had hearing aids so she suffered mostly

whenever there was a new intake into the school.

Obviously, inquisitive young children are going to ask,

"What is that in your ear, Poppy, what are those things?"

You feel like you're the only one going through this.

Olivia felt she had to do more to help Poppy feel less isolated

and after surfing the internet she got in touch with the charity

Hearing Dogs For Deaf People.

Deaf children particularly feel very uncomfortable sleeping at night.

We've often heard of deaf children who never slept

in their own bedroom at night,

so that's really an issue where hearing dogs can help dramatically.

Poppy was one of the very first deaf children that we were able to help

by placing a hearing dog with her family.

They had to match Poppy with the right dog

so training is very detailed.

Hearing dogs are trained to alert deaf people to a wide range

of sounds that are really important to their day-to-day lives

so things such as the smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarms,

the telephone, the doorbell, of course, is an obvious one -

a whole range of skills.

Olivia had reservations at first about a new addition to the family.

I must say my son was terrified of dogs and so was I, all my life,

so we were not the most likely of families to have a hearing dog.

But she needn't have worried.

Four years ago, Maddy came into their lives,

and for Poppy it was love at first sight.

My first impressions would be crazy, funny and playful.

When we first had Maddy,

especially as we had never had a dog before, there was an instant bond.

We thought she was really crazy but adorable, loving and quite bonkers.

When Maddy was in training, we could see that she loved

being around children, she really connected with children

and that made her perfect

for the hearing dogs for deaf children project,

so she's been a joy to train and she really has some extra special

characteristics that make her a very clever and adorable dog.

Poppy's ten-year old brother Henry wasn't so sure.

I was scared of her at first when we first got her

cos I've always been scared of dogs.

But Maddy didn't take long to win him over.

She doesn't, like, bite you, she's very kind. She is very playful.

Maddy is a cockapoo, a cross between a cocker spaniel

and a poodle. Her dedication and skill has transformed Poppy's life

and she sleeps in Poppy's room, giving her 24-hour support.

The first night we brought Maddy home,

Poppy didn't get up and check,

the very first night.

So she was obviously comforted immediately

that she had some ears there for her.

I know she's in the room and I know if there's any danger,

she would alert me and tell me

and it's really comforting to know that.

Although Maddy's night duty is usually relaxed,

it's the mornings when she's at her busiest.

At about seven in the morning, if it...on weekdays,

she would get me up and, um, by alarm,

I'm in my bed and she pulls

the sheets off me so I wouldn't have a choice because you have this

dog face staring at you while it's getting you up, it's quite cute.

Maddy also keeps an eye on Poppy's dental routine.

Maddy listens out for another alarm which is always set for two minutes.

She waits with me and makes sure I do the two minutes.

Sometimes I take my hearing aids out before I clean my teeth so

I wouldn't be able to hear the alarm

so she would paw me and say, "It's finished."

It's nice and helpful because

I didn't used to clean my teeth...

I would clean them but I don't think I would clean them for long enough.

All hearing dogs are trained to fetch their owner if instructed.

In Maddy's case, this often means telling Poppy her mum is calling...

Fetch, Poppy!

..especially when breakfast's ready.

Poppy's anxieties are now a thing of the past.

She's improved my life a lot

because when we used to go out to shops, people would look at me,

see my hearing aids and just start talking to my mum.

I feel a bit like, "Hello, I'm here, you know, too."

I feel invisible.

Now people just come up to me and it's really nice

because I don't sort of just stare at people, like, "Hello!"

It's made me feel better and it's really boosted my confidence.

I would say the main way Poppy has improved from

since she's had Maddy as a hearing dog

has been in acknowledging that she has a hearing loss,

not going to school and covering her hearing aids with her hair.

Obviously, with age, she has grown into a more confident teenage girl.

When Poppy is out and about, Maddy is constantly alert,

listening for danger.

I think Poppy would be less confident.

Now we've got Maddy, it's not that different from a normal person's

life, she's very confident. She's a lovely sister.

When we didn't have Maddy, I would be waking up Poppy

so it would be a lot more worse for us to get to school and all that.

Although mum, Olivia, was never a big dog lover,

Maddy has certainly changed her mind.

I think anybody that has an amazing dog,

slightly extra piece of jigsaw to the family.

She's just really had a big impact on my life.

In Newham, Animal Welfare Manager Tina now has some news

on the suspected pit bulls she seized a few days ago.

Tina suspected there was an illegal pit bull on the premises,

which she had removed for assessment,

but she's also found a second suspected pit bull,

belonging to a different family member.

-I understand what you're saying...

-How can you do that to people?

-I understand where you're coming from.

-BLEEP

-off, mate.

-The problem is we have to make sure the dogs properly assessed.

-BLEEP.

Let's see how this works for you.

The two suspected pit bulls have been put in the van

ready to go off for assessment

but one of the owners isn't giving up his dog without a fight.

Show me the paperwork, show me the laws. Show me the laws.

Show me the law.

THEY ALL TALK AT ONCE

The van protest hasn't worked

and arguing isn't getting him anywhere either.

-Relax.

-No, I'm not relaxing.

I can understand how you feel...

No, I'm not relaxing, the council's informed,

I've had my injections, I've had my chips...

-No, no,

-BLEEP.

SHOUTING

-No, no.

-Look what you're doing, you're taking his dog.

-BLEEP!

So now he's trying another tack.

He's jumped in his van and driven up the road and now Tina is blocked in.

Just get a tow truck, then, eh?

To make matters worse, he's got out of the van and run off with the key.

-Where's my cousin gone?

-He's just...

I hope you're happy, though, I hope you're happy!

I'm sorry, you were advised, you were advised and you knew...

You knew my dog was not a pit. You knew my dog was not a pit.

-It's not a pit bull!

-It's being assessed.

-It's not a pit bull.

It's being assessed. It's being assessed.

-My dog is not a pit bull, I told you from day one.

-It is being assessed.

I ain't saying no more, I ain't saying no more.

You lot are just all wrong.

-BLEEP!

-You wouldn't come harassing me about a dog. Really!

Nothing better to do with yourselves?

With no other way of getting the dogs safely away,

Tina calls for more support.

We're bringing another vehicle to remove the dogs.

We're going to bring another vehicle round to remove the dogs

-so we can take the dogs out anyway.

-But another van won't be needed.

The police are here.

If it wasn't for the police, it would have completely kicked off.

The police have now moved the owner's van,

so Tina's colleague can leave safely with the dogs,

but the owner still refuses to go quietly.

BLEEP!

You can have some people who just literally are devastated

and stand there and cry and that's a really awful situation.

Other times, you go into properties where you have a very aggressive

owner and a lovely dog and even in those circumstances it's awful.

I think that this is completely wrong, do you understand?

How can she come to my house, after assessing our dogs before,

she didn't give us a reason, that's number one, yeah?

Number two, how can she take my cousin's dog, yeah?

Out of the blue. He's not a pit, he don't look like a pit, he's a Staff.

And he was taking her, he puts him on a lead,

a lead ain't even appropriate and puts him on a lead

and takes his dog when he's not even a Staff.

He didn't take any detail or nothing

and he's just come to take my dog as well.

Then she's trying to get in the car and trying to drive off

and my cousin's been arrested because of her actions.

We really weren't expecting obviously him to turn up

and obviously weren't expecting him to turn up with his dog either.

You can never plan for anything nowadays,

always expect the unexpected.

If she's not a pit, she'll be returned to you tomorrow

and if she is, in the light of the circumstances now,

it will be a strong possibility that the council wouldn't support

her coming back to you.

With the dogs safely in the kennels, they will

await an assessment from an independent expert.

If they are proved to be a banned breed,

the owners will have to go through an expensive

and lengthy process for any hope of being able to keep them.

The dogs are at a secret location.

The reason for that is because they are pit bull type dogs

and we do get concerned about the security of our dogs.

So in the council kennels we keep stray dogs,

however, our pit bulls do go somewhere else.

People confuse the legislation, it doesn't mean that the dog

is actually dangerous in its behaviour, it's a type of dog

under the legislation and people often get confused with the wording.

If you say Dangerous Dogs Act, the first thing a lot of people

will say is, "My dog isn't dangerous."

It doesn't actually really mean your dog has to be dangerous

to fall within that act.

Working in Newham has its challenges

and for the Animal Welfare team there's never a dull moment.

Animal Welfare, can I help you?

OK, I think there is a serious risk.

Tina's just had a tipoff

that two German shepherds are being mistreated.

So it's time to hit the road again.

We're going on a call where it is alleged that

a German shepherd dog is kept in a small kennel in the back garden

and there's lots of people living at the premises

and lots of rubbish

and this is a particular problem that we have been having in Newham

with German shepherds and Belgian shepherds being kept in tiny cages,

so we're going to visit the premises

and see if there is a dog in the back garden

and the accommodation that it's living in.

Tina manages a team of five Animal Welfare officers

and as a unit they can deal with up to 2,000 badly treated

or dangerous animals a year.

Someone's just twitched the curtain.

Hello?

Hello, I'm from the London Borough of Newham Animal Welfare Service

and we've got a complaint about a dog that's in your back garden.

All right, yeah.

-Can I come in and have a look?

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

Is your dog OK with strange people?

-I don't know, maybe.

-Will he bite?

I think so. It's not mine, so I don't know.

-OK, is it OK with people it doesn't know?

-It's not.

-No?

So it's aggressive with people it doesn't know, is it?

I think so, it's better to unknown people keep away from him.

That is over there. You can open it, no problem.

-Yes, OK.

-OK.

-Don't go, don't...

-So where is the owner?

Upstairs?

OK, where's that, then, please? Just up here? OK.

-Up here?

-Yes, up here.

Hello, I'm from the council.

-So who's the owner of the dog?

-Yes.

You are the owner of the dog, are you?

Is he a pet? Or is he used for working?

-No, pet dog.

-He is a pet dog.

-Yes.

-But he's not OK with strangers?

-No.

-Right, OK.

So if he's a pet dog, why isn't he OK with strangers?

Well, he's OK with strangers.

OK, can we go down and have a look at him,

outside in the garden, then, please?

I'll go outside while you get up, OK?

Downstairs, Sue has spotted something.

A fluorescent jacket in the corridor

-that looks like it says dog handler on it.

-Where?

-Here.

Because the dogs are said to be antisocial and could attack,

Tina needs someone to restrain them before she checks them over.

-What is your name, please?

-Amin.

-Have you got something for identification?

-Yes, I do.

Please show that to me in a moment.

And there's evidence that the dogs could be used for security work.

If Tina isn't happy with the dog's living conditions

and the man turns out to be the owner, he could be prosecuted.

-So this is your dog?

-No, not that one.

-Pardon?

-Not this one.

But it's not just the welfare of the dogs that Tina is worried about.

-So do you use your dog for security work?

-No, just for like...

Who owns the dog jacket? Dog handler jacket.

For the previous one, not my one.

-So you own the one in here that you've just put in here.

-Yes.

The dog in the run is living in its own mess and the other one,

owned by this man, is kept cooped up

in a tiny windowless part of the kennel,

and as they are a male and a bitch, there could be future problems.

DOGS BARK

Does your dog stay in here at night?

This isn't an acceptable place for your dog to be.

Right, why do you have your dog if he lives in the garden?

For your hobby, what kind of hobby do you have?

I'm asking you, because I don't believe that you're not using

-your dog for security work.

-No, no, I'm not.

Where's the owner of this dog?

You don't know where he is?

Tina has all the evidence she needs.

You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence

if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

Anything you do say may be given in evidence, do you understand that?

SPEECH DROWNED OUT BY BARKING DOGS

What I'm going to give you is I'm going to give you

an improvement notice, OK?

You've got seven days to clean up this garden.

Well, one day might be enough for you

but I'm going to give you seven days to do it, OK?

Your garden needs to be free from any items that will harm your dog...

I just need you to listen to me,

and it needs to be a suitable environment, OK?

Things like these bits of tins of cans, you've got sharp objects,

a nail sticking out of the wood, all of that needs to be cleared.

The dog must also have suitable accommodation for it

to go into at night. This isn't suitable.

To shut it in that box isn't suitable.

You're going to clear this up, are you? But that's not your dog.

When does this person come to look at his dog? Does he live here?

Do you have identification with photo ID, please? Thank you.

I think the worst part of my job is

when you know an animals being ill-treated but it's not being

ill-treated to the extent where you can take it away.

Leaving a dog or any animal is really, really difficult.

Is that OK? My photo is there, it's a previous one.

Do you have any letters or anything to this address?

-I just didn't... I just moved in.

-OK.

While Tina's deals with the red tape,

Sue takes note of the rubbish and mess in the garden.

There's a pot of something here which I have no idea what it is

but it's not pleasant, it's got no lid on it

and it certainly shouldn't be left around dogs unsupervised.

DOG BARKS

What you need to remember is you live in a residential area

and your dogs barking like this and the smell is not acceptable.

-OK?

-Yes.

-It's like going into your house and shutting you

into one room and expecting to stay there for your life.

Tina's improvement notice is given under the Animal Welfare Act

and if the owner hasn't taken her advice by her next visit,

she will remove the dogs.

I am concerned that there's a dog handler jacket in there as well.

If you're working your dog and you're not being honest with me,

then we may take action against you. You need to understand that.

OK, then? Thank you very much for your help.

How many people live in your premises?

You don't... How many people have you seen? Six?

And Tina has one last concern.

Are there fish in this tank?

Thankfully, the fish tank is empty.

Thank you.

Tina has given the dog owner plenty of time to start putting

things right, but she's still worried about the long-term future.

It is a property that we are going to have to monitor,

and go back and visit in seven days.

It's just another one of them, isn't it?

Another one of those German shepherd houses.

We'll find out later

whether the owner has decided to take Tina's advice.

In the UK, there are 272 police horses

who undergo years of intense training

before being put to work on some of our nation's most important,

high-profile and often dangerous duties.

In Milton Keynes, police officer Louisa Watson has 14 years' experience

of working for the Thames Valley Mounted Section,

which has worked with over 80 horses during the last 28 years.

The horses are exposed to all types of work, demonstrations

and football matches and concerts, crowds, disorder,

patrolling estates like the one we're on at the moment

for antisocial behaviour.

Police horses go through a specific training regime so, yes,

it might be a little bit stressful but the horses are extremely brave.

When you're at a really bad demonstration or football match

where there's disorder,

the horse trusts you as you're putting it into that difficult

and stressful situation,

and that's how you build the bond.

But when the horses get older, they are retired from active duty.

We see these horses that have been owned by the taxpayer as equine

civil servants, effectively, so they have served the country or the

community, but there is no taxpayer money after they finish work.

These brave animals deserve a happy retirement,

and the right home, but it can take time.

Jeanette Allen is the Chief Executive of

The Horse Trust in Buckinghamshire,

a charity set in 200 acres of the Chiltern countryside,

offering a home and respite for these working horses.

Those animals that have served can come to us on their retirement,

as long as we have places. We can only have around 100 animals.

And generally, we take the ones that no-one else would want.

And one horse that certainly deserves to be here is Romulus,

who has been a resident for seven months.

Romulus is a 13-year-old bay gelding.

He's served with the Thames Valley Police for six years.

During his time there, Romulus worked on crowd control,

helped search for missing persons

and protected the Queen on security duties.

He also received two commendations for his willingness

to work in dangerous and violent situations.

This is Romulus, retired due to intermittent lameness.

He also had some skin problems and dust allergies,

and so he's much happier either in a big barn or in an open environment.

He can still be ridden occasionally, so sometimes he helps us

with training our young rescue horses and ponies, and he'll help

to teach them to go past a bin lorry or let a bus overtake them.

He's a very gentle boy. He's very sweet-natured.

He's a bit of a cheeky chap. And he is so distinctive looking.

This is funny,

the white stripe across his head. So we call him Adam Ant.

Today, Romulus has a surprise in store. Tim, his police handler

for three years, has come to see his old friend again.

It's been several months since I've seen my police horse Romulus, but

he's out there with Titan, another one of the horses I've retired.

A very violent event particularly sticks in Tim's mind,

when he had to rely on Romulus to keep him safe.

This led to one of Romulus's commendations for bravery.

Romulus and I have been through a lot of situations together,

some quite violent.

One particular... it was a demonstration in Sussex

in Brighton, where things basically deteriorated.

Bottles and bricks were thrown at police lines, including myself

and Romulus.

A really brave horse, absolutely no backing off.

And it's a privilege to have such a police horse that looks

after you so well.

His skin condition, which he used to have,

seems to have cleared up, so, yeah, it's really nice to see him

so happy, and so pleased to see me, by all accounts.

But it can happen that a police horse might lose its nerve,

because what's being asked of them is quite unusual.

A horse's natural instinct is to run away from anything dangerous,

not to run into something dangerous,

and that takes a huge amount of trust between the horse and rider,

a lot of training,

and it's an incredibly sensitive partnership and that's why

so many of the officers still come up and see their horses years after

they have retired, because they still

have a very strong bond with them.

However dangerous, he's always been tremendously brave.

I've been blessed to be able to ride him.

With only a certain number of retirement places, there is

a waiting list.

And for police officer Louisa Watson, it's

a sad day as Troy has reached the top of the queue.

Louisa has worked very closely with Troy, an Irish draught horse, but

sadly, at the young age of 15, he's being retired, due to arthritis.

It's bittersweet, really, because I'm happy for him to go.

He's very stiff behind now, he's got some hop problems,

so it's time for him to retire. But it's always sad

when one of the horses goes.

I had Troy from the beginning, back in 2005.

So, yeah, I have got an attachment to him, so I will miss him,

but better for Troy, definitely.

Turn around. There you go.

Over in Buckinghamshire, Jeanette is ready for Troy's arrival.

I first saw him last year, and he's been on our waiting list,

so it's good for him to get going now.

As well as showing huge bravery throughout his working life,

Troy has also moved in some very high circles.

I think the highlight, really, with Troy,

was doing the first Royal Ascot, escorting Her Majesty The Queen,

of course, and also State Visits.

He was also involved in the Royal wedding of Charles and Camilla

and not to forget last year, the new Royal baby.

Troy was involved in security patrols with that, so he's had a busy

career and received a commendation from Sussex Police back in 2012.

Troy may have been a very dutiful horse,

but he does have another side to his personality.

There's lots of things I'll miss about Troy.

Not so much his grumpiness. He's quite a greedy horse.

Loves his food, but he loves a cup of tea

and he likes to actually lick the mug and eat tomato ketchup

and it's little things like that that I'll really miss about him.

Careful. Good boy. Careful. Good lad.

Retiring a horse that has been through physical

and psychological hardship is more tricky than you might think.

Some horses respond to retirement instantly

and will just go straight out into a field and gallop about

and obviously revel in the freedom of just being out with no rider.

Other horses, it can take them a little bit longer to settle in

to an environment where they're not being told what to do all the time.

So those horses we tend to work a little bit more with

before we let them out into the herds full-time.

They've let his coat grow out so he's nice and woolly now and getting

to just be a bit more natural, play around with other horses

and run about in fields for the rest of his life.

He needs love. He's very broken, though.

And in a few months,

it's hoped Troy will have settled in as well as Romulus.

The place is a wonderful charity

and it's basically just really the fact that I know Romulus

now will be looked after for the rest of his time is so reassuring.

In Newham, Animal Welfare Manager Tina has some news

on the suspected pit bulls she seized a few days ago.

I assessed them both and confirmed them both to be pits.

In addition to that,

because there was a possibility of us taking legal action,

an independent expert was brought in to also confirm that both dogs

are of type which means that basically they're pit bull type dogs.

When we have an aggressive owner that has a pit ball,

the council is not going to support an application for that dog

to be returned because we don't feel that they're the type of people

that should be owning a prohibited dog.

A banned dog can be returned to its owner only if

the court thinks it's not a danger to the public.

But expensive rules apply.

The dog must be insured, microchipped, tattooed,

neutered, kept on a lead and muzzled when in public.

Unfortunately, in this case,

as the male owner has had a caution for aggressive behaviour,

he and his cousin may never see their dogs again.

Let's go.

It's a busy week for Tina

and today she's revisiting the German shepherd dogs

that were being neglected

and kept in the back garden in dirty conditions.

She was also concerned they were being used as security dogs.

We issued him an improvement notice with seven days to comply with that,

so we're going to make sure that they have a suitable environment

to live in and suitable accommodation.

If they haven't, then we'll be going to court to get a warrant

to actually remove the dogs from the premises.

If they have, then that's absolutely fine

and the dogs will be able to stay there.

You know, our other concerns about the property

is that one of the German shepherds is alleged to bite

and be unfriendly, so, obviously,

because there are so many people at the premises,

that is a concern that somebody at some point may get bitten.

It's obvious that somebody's home so can you open the door, please?

Here he comes.

Good morning. The London Borough of Newham Animal Welfare Service.

We've just come to have a look at the German shepherds.

-OK, can you handle the dog outside?

-No, I can't.

-Why can't you handle it?

-I don't go near to the dogs, that's why.

-Are you afraid of the dog?

-Yeah.

-Will the dog bite?

I don't know but I never go out there.

OK, do you have anybody else in the house that can handle that dog?

Not right now.

With no-one to secure the dog,

Tina and her colleague aren't taking any chances by opening the door.

There seems to be only one dog on the premises now.

The garden's been totally cleaned up,

which I'm absolutely amazed at, really.

My remaining concern now is that the dog is used as a security dog

and that he is people aggressive.

So I am concerned. He's a lovely looking dog.

DOG GROWLS

Even if he is a bit grumpy. You a bit grumpy?

Tina still needs a face-to-face talk with the absent owner.

-Hello?

-Through here.

-The law changes this year.

-Yeah.

And if somebody was to come in your garden and your dog or his dog

-was to bite them, then the dog can be seized, and he can be prosecuted.

-OK.

And obviously I'm concerned that you have a dog that's

living in the garden that is very aggressive towards people.

-This is my name, it's Tina Delaney.

-Tina Delaney.

-This is the telephone number to contact me on.

-Yes.

If you can ask him to give me a call, so I can come back and visit him.

-OK.

-OK?

-OK, no worries.

-Thank you very much for that. Thank you for your help.

-Cheers.

-Bye-bye.

I love my job because it varies.

It can be very, very heartbreaking, but at the same time it can be

very, very rewarding and, you know, I absolutely love working with animals.

I have three dogs, a parrot and three...four chickens,

two cats, so, yeah, that's my menagerie

so I have quite a few animals.

And mine are all very well-behaved and trained.

Basically I'm happy with the conditions that the dog's in.

All we'll do now is we'll speak to the owner

and, you know, our concerns about the dog biting somebody.

That'll also be followed up in writing.

What is does do is make him aware

that if somebody does enter his garden

and his dog does bite somebody,

then there's a possibility he will be prosecuted for that.

We don't actually need to return to the premises

unless we get any complaints in the future.

Tina will keep a close eye on the German shepherd.

Her suspicion that it was being used as a security dog

has never been proved.

The fate of the two pit bulls is currently in the hands of the court.