Your Dog joins the canine community in paying tribute to Finn, the former police dog who changed the landscape of UK animal welfare, after he passed away peacefully in his sleep aged 14.
The German Shepherd won the nation’s hearts in 2016 when he suffered near-fatal injuries while protecting his handler, PC Dave Wardell, from a knife-wielding assailant in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Finn was left with serious head and chest wounds, but the incident kick-started a campaign to change the law, which previously viewed attacks on service animals as ‘criminal damage’.
As a result, the Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act — known as Finn’s Law — was passed in 2019. Following the brave dog’s retirement in 2017, he became a canine celebrity, appearing on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and winning the prestigious Kennel Club Friends for Life competition at Crufts in 2019.
A heartbroken Dave said: “I’m completely lost without him and miss him so much.” The Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a national charity that celebrates and supports retired and serving police dogs, added: “Finn, your legacy will live on; may you stand down with pride.”