Latest news with #HeidiCollins
BBC News
09-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Retired police dog looks after former handler's ill wife
A retired police dog has taken on a new role as a guardian and companion for her former handler's wife, who lives with multiple chronic health a seven-year-old German Shepherd, served with the Ministry of Defence Police for three and a half years. She also supported operations with police forces in Hampshire and the Thames she was diagnosed with degenerative spinal condition spondylosis and was adopted by her former handler, PC Ash Collins, and his wife Heidi, who suffers with endometriosis, fibromyalgia and polycystic ovary Collins, 40, said Donja - affectionately nicknamed "Donna Kebab" - instinctively sensed when she was unwell. "She won't leave my side and insists on following me, keeping a close eye on me, and laying by my side when I'm feeling unwell," said Mrs Collins, who lives in Wiltshire. "It's difficult for her to jump up onto the bed due to her back problems but, when I'm in pain and stuck in bed, she knows and will hop up to snuggle with me."After recent surgery, Donja stayed close to her, offering comfort and emotional support. "She knows how to cheer me up and when I need a smile she'll bring me a toy or nuzzle in for a cuddle," she said. Donja, who patrolled military sites including RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, is supported by the Thin Blue Paw Foundation, a charity that rehabilitates and protects serving and retired police pays for Donja's regular medication and provides her with free food through the charity's partnership with Barking chairman Kieran Stanbridge said: "After everything Donja has done, it's only fair that she gets to enjoy her retirement pain-free." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
05-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Swindon family join campaign for pensions for police dogs
The owners of a retired police dog are supporting a national campaign for the animals to be given pensions by the Collins and her husband, a Ministry of Defence Police dog handler, adopted German Shepherd Donna when she retired suddenly at the age of five on medical now seven, has a number of health conditions and the family say it is unfair that animals face being put down if their adoptive families cannot afford the Thin Blue Paw Foundation launched a petition on Thursday calling for ex-service dogs to receive a pension, but the Home Office says there are currently no plans to change the retirement process for service animals. Donna primarily patrolled atomic weapons sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield in Berkshire, but would often be called upon to track down suspects or vulnerable missing Collins, from Swindon, told the BBC there was "no question" that they would adopt Donna when she retired as she was "already a member of the family", but they have struggled with the cost of her vets Shepherds as a breed or prone to a range of muscular skeletal conditions, and ex-police service dogs can be even harder to insure due to the extra toll their working lives takes on their addition, many have been trained for "bite work" in response to a command or a specific threat, which is seen as an added risk for insurers. Donna's medication costs around £300 every two months and her family have sometimes needed support from the Thin Blue Paw Foundation to cover the Collins said: "It's a big responsibility to take ex-police dogs on but they are fantastic dogs.""These dogs are willing to give us everything. They will do everything that is needed and required of them," she said. "For them to give most of their lives, why do they not get some kind of financial support like a pension to take care of them in their old age? I don't think it's very fair."The Home Office told the BBC service animals were managed by individual police forces who rely on charities and volunteers, and there were currently no plans to change the retirement process.
