Severe pain

Urgent surgery needed: police dog has to wait

The nine-year-old Malinois dog can only move with pain and can barely stand up. (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Анастасия Воронюк - stock.adobe.com)

Once again, a case within the service dog unit has come to light that has animal rights activists up in arms. A police dog from Lower Austria is said to be barely able to stand up from the pain, but the Ministry of the Interior did not give the green light for the urgently recommended operation for two weeks. 

Anyone who has ever suffered from back or intervertebral disc problems knows about this unbearable pain. Every movement, no matter how small, leads to a razor-sharp pain, which is unbearable without pain medication and medical help.

A nine-year-old service dog from the Lower Austrian police force is probably experiencing a similar situation. Since mid-July, he has hardly been able to stand up and can only move around in severe pain, according to information from police sources. 

Surgical intervention necessary
The attending vet is said to have diagnosed an "acute attack of cauda equina syndrome". This is a narrowing of the nerve ducts in the lumbar vertebrae, which can be corrected with an operation. 

According to reports, the responsible state police directorate - as is usual in such cases - applied to the Ministry of the Interior for approval to cover the costs. However, according to information from "Krone", this request remained unanswered for two weeks, and despite urging from the Lower Austria police directorate, there was no response from the department responsible for service dogs at the Ministry. 

No green light for surgery
Apparently, the desperation among the staff is great, because they turned to the "Krone" animal corner with the request to remain anonymous. They asked the person responsible for service dogs at the ministry to explain why they were taking so long to provide the animal with the urgently needed medical help. 

Dogs are indispensable for the work of the police. However, a series of incidents shows that even more attention should be paid to animal welfare.

(Bild: Radspieler Jürgen)

The response from the ministry followed promptly, assuring us that the insider's information was not correct and that everything had already been put in place for the necessary intervention. The "Krone" followed up on this and learned that a verbal commitment for the operation had indeed been made in the meantime.

Why this coincidentally happened on the same day that the Ministry was confronted with the request by the animal corner naturally leaves room for speculation. The fact that there is so much resentment within the ministry's own ranks regarding the treatment of animals that abuses are regularly reported to the outside world should give those responsible pause for thought.