CHRISTMAS TAILS: LONDON LUTON HOLDS XMAS PARTY FOR ITS POLICE DOGS

London Luton Airport held a Christmas party for its 12 police dogs today, with the most popular tune with the canines apparently being ‘Bark, the Herald Angels’ sing!

To thank them for their work this year the six spaniels (Chip, Milo, Laser, Peper, Poppy and Sparky) and six Labradors (Hunter, Quirky, Toby, Charley, Ned and George) each chowed down on Christmas themed dog treats and played festive games in the terminal.

The dogs are trained in a variety of skills, with some able to search planes, premises and luggage for drugs, guns and money, while others can find explosives.

Each are trained to freeze when they detect anything, so they don’t encounter anything potentially harmful.

Commenting on the party, Clare Armstrong, London Luton’s head of passenger services, said, “Everyone at LLA loves the police dogs. Not only do they play a vital role in keeping the airport safe, they’re always a talking point with our passengers, so we thought it would be fun to reward them with a Christmas party.”

Police dog handler, Andrew Parker, from Bedfordshire Police, who heads up the airport dog unit, commented: “The dogs work hard all year round keeping the airport safe, so it was great to reward them with a few hours of fun in the terminal.

“Passengers and staff love to see the dogs patrolling the airport. As well as offering public reassurance they are a great way to engage with the travelling public and talk to them about important safety information.”

For the record, the dogs’ other favourite Xmas songs are said to include ‘Santa paws is coming to town’, ‘Furry-tail of New York’ and ‘The Collie and the Ivy’!