Send it bark! Taxpayers 'paid for small boat migrant's DOG to be kept in a kennel to quarantine' after crossing the Channel
Taxpayers have been paying thousands for an asylum seeker's dog to stay in the UK.
The German Shepherd crossed the Channel in a dingy packed with migrants, in what is believed to have be the first case of its kind.
It needs to be isolated to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as rabies, alongside receiving a full check-up with jabs and vaccinations.
It may also need months of further care before its owner's asylum claim is processed.
It must now spend four months in quarantine - something opposition MPs have branded 'barking mad'.
'Labour have lost control of our borders,' Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip told The Sun.
'The cost of quarantining this dog will run into thousands, all paid for by the British taxpayer. It is barking mad.'
The German Shepherd came to the UK among the 1,183 human migrants since Saturday last week.
There are now talks that the pup could be adopted as an official Border Force dog.
A source told the newspaper: 'Border Force officials couldn't believe their eyes but treated the animal with the same humanity they show any individual.'
The dog is reported to have been taken to one of the Government's six approved quarantine sites.
One of these is the Animal Inn in Deal, which is five miles from Dover.
It comes after Keir Starmer vowed to 'take back control' as he pledged to end the 'betrayal' of reliance on cheap foreign labour.
The PM accused the Tories of overseeing an explosion in numbers while in power, saying the system seemed 'designed to permit abuse' and was 'contributing to the forces that are slowly pulling our country apart'.
A Government spokesman told The Sun: 'The UK takes biosecurity very seriously.
'Where an animal comes from an unlisted country, it is placed in quarantine to prevent dangerous diseases like rabies coming into the country.
'We all want to see the end to dangerous boat crossings that undermine our border security and put lives at risk.'
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