German police dogs to be outfitted with shoes
Police dogs in the German city of Düsseldorf will soon be equipped with blue plastic fiber shoes, a police spokesman said today.
"All 20 of our police dogs - German and Belgian shepherds - are currently being trained to walk in these shoes," Andre Hartwich said. "I'm not sure they like it, but they'll have to get used to it."
The Associated Press reports that the footwear is not a fashion statement, but to protect dogs from the high rate of paw injuries on duty -- a result in part from broken beer bottles in the western city's historical old town, famous for both its pubs and drunken revelers.
(Sounds a little like the neighborhoods of Fells Point and Federal Hill in Baltimore.)
"Even the street-cleaning doesn't manage to remove all the glass pieces from between the streets' cobblestones," Hartwich said.
The dogs will start wearing the shoes this spring for operations that demand special foot protection. The shoes comes in sizes small, medium and large and were ordered in blue to match the officers uniforms, Hartwich said.
