Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson presented a special award for the best nose work at the force’s Dog Unit awards presentation last week.

Dog handlers, officers, search and rescue volunteers and guests gathered at Wiltshire Police HQ to celebrate the successes of a busy year and recognise the work of the unit, including implementing and enforcing the XL Bully ban.

The award which was sponsored by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner was given to PC Sam Dutton with Police dog Ross, based on the ability to follow a half a mile track left by a person and recover items of property along the way, as well as searching for two persons hiding in separate locations and finally a search for small items of property.

Mr Wilkinson said: “I’d like to thank all dog handlers and trainers for their ongoing hard work - the unit is a huge asset to Wiltshire Police and they are an integral part of our Force, carrying out incredibly important work such as finding missing or wanted people and discovery of items such as drugs, cash or firearms. They play a huge role in Keeping Wiltshire Safe.

“A main priority in my Police and Crime Plan is ensuring the force has the right tools, resources, and equipment to do the job. Part of that is ensuring all the necessary frameworks around animal welfare are in place to support the force and enable them to run the Dogs Unit to the highest standard, which is why my office recently implemented the Animal Welfare Scheme in partnership with the Dogs Trust.

“The welfare and treatment of police dogs is crucial as they provide officers with invaluable operational assistance and should therefore be treated with the utmost care and respect.”

To find out more about the dog unit and the Animal Welfare Scheme, please click here. 

Published Tuesday 28 January 2026