MLA calls for pet dogs in prison practice to end

Pet dogs being used to support inmates should not be housed in prisons, until there is a full review of the practice, a politician has said.

Jon Burrows, of the Ulster Unionist Party, was speaking after the prison service said a dog at Magilligan Prison in County Londonderry was removed due to a “callous and calculated threat”.

Concerns had previously been raised by politicians and animal charities about the use of the dog – Bailey – a three-and-half-year-old cocker spaniel, as a “support dog” to help rehabilitate inmates in the prison.

The Prison Service said he was “safe, happy and well looked after”.

Burrows said the governor of Magilligan has agreed to meet him at Stormont to discuss the issue.

He said he believes Bailey is now being kept at the home of a dog handler and he is “convinced that the dog is now safe”.

“We need a clear statement now – an end to putting pet dogs in prisons until there’s proper procedures, training and transparency.”

Earlier, speaking on Radio Ulster the North Antrim MLA said Burrows said: “I’ve written to the justice minister who has confirmed that he had no trained master and that he didn’t go home to a home.

“Prison officers told me directly that when the sirens went off when there was a self-harm incident, when the sirens went off because there was a fight on the wing, the dog was quivering.”

He added: “If it’s there to come in to help with some issues of anxiety, with therapy, then bring it in with an owner, let it be stroked, let it have engagement under constant supervision and then let it go home to a family home.”

In a statement on Monday, a Prison Service spokesperson said: “A perfectly happy and well looked after dog at Magilligan Prison has had to be moved after the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) made us aware of a callous and calculated external threat to say that Bailey was going to be harmed in an attempt to embarrass the governor.”

They said the welfare of Bailey has always been and “will always be the service’s priority”.

“He was safe and cared for when he was living at Magilligan, he is safe and being cared for now,” the spokesperson said.

“The benefits of dogs providing emotional support is widely recognised.

“In prison environments dogs can offer support to people with poor mental health and addiction issues, help promote positive changes in behaviour and reduce stress and anxiety.”

It added: “Dogs are utilised in prisons across these islands for this purpose and have been supporting prisoners in Northern Ireland for over 20 years.

“The current challenges facing the Prison Service are well documented and this issue and the level of inaccurate and sensationalist reporting surrounding it has unfortunately been an unnecessary distraction.”

The charity Causeway Coast Dog Rescue had campaigned to have Bailey removed from the prison.

On Monday the group’s Tara Cunningham told BBC News NI that Bailey had gone “straight from a family home whose circumstances meant they could no longer keep him” and he went straight to the prison.

She said the charity wanted to see a proposal for Bailey’s long-term care.

“We want to understand what safeguards are going to be reviewed and put in place for all dogs in prisons in Northern Ireland,” she added.

The group also issued a statement on behalf of Bailey’s previous owner, who said that their “first and overriding concern is Bailey, his immediate welfare and his long-term future”.