When police officers are on duty, they are often accompanied by dogs.

In addition to detection dogs, which can find people, explosives or drugs, there are also protection dogs.

They are used during raids or during demonstrations and are intended to help arrest criminals.

Special task forces use such dogs to repel attackers or pursue suspects.

In Berlin, however, the protection dogs had not been used since the beginning of the year - 49 of 130 police dogs in the capital.

Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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The reason for this is a new animal welfare dog ordinance that has been in force since the beginning of the year. There it says: "It is forbidden to use spiked collars or other means that are painful for the dogs in the education, upbringing or training of dogs." However, guard dogs are trained with such spiked collars. They cut off the dog's breath for a short time. The dog remembers this pain. If he bites a suspect later in the field in order to hold him down, pulling the collar can quickly stop the attack. Since the Berlin police take the new regulation seriously, they were unable to continue using the guard dogs. After all, the dog handlers did not want to make themselves liable to prosecution.

However, the federal states interpret the ordinance differently. In Brandenburg, which is known for its pragmatic solutions, the police have not changed the use of guard dogs. The ordinance did not apply to police service dogs, it was decided. Otherwise, you should continue to respect the Animal Welfare Act, according to which animals should not be inflicted pain without a reasonable reason. In training, however, there is no alternative to the spiked collars to train the dogs.

Berlin's new Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger, has now decided that the guard dogs are "indispensable for the daily work of the police and" protecting the population "and" will be reinstated immediately ".

The stricter regulation only affects the education, upbringing and training of the dogs - the use is therefore possible.

However, it must be clarified how the training will be possible in the future.

"As a former dog owner, the welfare of dogs is important to me," wrote the SPD politician in a statement.

After all, she doesn't want to be seen as an animal cruiser.

Berlin is now supporting an initiative from Lower Saxony so that there is an exception rule for service dogs.

The German Animal Welfare Association rejects this: "Anti-animal protection remains anti-animal protection," he said.