New sniffer dog team to detect drugs used in spiking

Two police forces have teamed up to form a dog team tasked with identifying people involved in spiking.

Thames Valley Police and Hampshire police say the specially trained dogs will help protect students across the region's university cities.

The forces say the six canines - Maverick, Puma, Dusty, AJ, Reggie and Major - can all detect drugs linked to spiking, including those carried in small quantities or liquid form.

Spiking is a criminal offence that can carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years, but dog-handler PC Dan Honey said it was often "very difficult" to identify potential offenders.

"These people can dress like you or I, move like you or I and go to the same places that anyone else would be," he said.

"The dogs give us that indication that this person is, for whatever reason, carrying something that we're interested in."

"It gives us that proactive insight that these people aren't anonymous anymore."

Thames Valley Police said that whilst incidents of spiking "remain low" in the region, "prevention is just as important as enforcement".

The joint campaign with Hampshire coincides with the start of the university term, when freshers first begin going out in a new city.

"Freshers at the moment, they're seeing us, they're seeing the dogs, they're seeing the police presence that comes with that," Honey said.

"It's about going out and targeting those offenders and essentially being able to prevent it from happening in the first place."

Campaigner, and former Love Island contestant, Sharon Gaffka welcomed the move, saying she welcomed "any form of preventative measures".

Gaffka, from Dicot, has previously shared her own ordeal after she was spiked whilst on a night out with friends in 2020.

She said it would be reassuring "to know there will be sniffer dogs out there who can detect this drug, and would be able to keep people like me safe".

"[It] probably would have prevented what happened to me," she added.