Police officers from Northamptonshire Police’s Dog Section have rescued an Alaskan Malamute called Thor from a Rushden couple.
Thor first came to the attention of police officers in August 2019 when he strayed from his address and bit a neighbour who tried to return him.
Three months later, he bit another neighbour and was seized by police officers under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Following an investigation and assistance from specially trained police officers, it became apparent that one-year-old Thor hadn’t been appropriately socialised – he didn’t know how to play with dog toys, wasn’t toilet trained and was used to an abusive environment where raised voices were the norm.
But officers didn’t want to give up on Thor and began a bespoke programme of training catered specifically for him.
Thor was groomed properly and taught commands like “paw”, “sit”, “stay” and “touch”.
Image credit: Northamptonshire Police
He was introduced to play, became happier and more confident as time went on, and slowly started to show affection and love towards his handlers.
Thor’s temperament and self-esteem has improved so much since Northamptonshire Police took him on that a Rehoming Centre has already agreed to work with him to find him a forever home.
His previous owners were tried at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, December 5, and were both found guilty of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.
As a result, Paul Underwood, 47, of Balmoral Avenue, Rushden and Nicola Muca, 44, of Balmoral Avenue, Rushden, were both given a 12-month community order and ordered to pay £245 each in costs.
They were also both given Disqualification Orders banning them from keeping dogs for five years.
PC Eva Horn, who assisted the investigating officers, said:
“Thor certainly didn’t have the best start in life, and we were determined to try our hardest to ensure he could get to a place where he was able to live the life he deserves.
“No one invested in Thor to be a family dog and he was denied socialisation and training.
“Thor reacted so well to our training and has now become a much more well-rounded dog – all he needed was some love and attention.
“This was a great result for us, and I hope this investigation shows that Northamptonshire Police will always look to find the best possible solution depending on the individual circumstances of an incident.
“We genuinely care about the wellbeing of animals in this county and will always aim to rescue them from abuse in order to give them a chance at the best life possible.”
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