New pup named in honour of former ACC
22 June 2021
The latest West Midlands Police pup recruits have been named after inspirational figures affected by motor neurone disease (MND) including former Assistant Chief Constable Chris Johnson.
The springer spaniel pups have been named after the ‘MND Heroes’ as a tribute to them and to mark MND Awareness Day yesterday (21 June) with one named Cheeky in honour of Chris as that is the nickname his colleagues gave him.
Chris was diagnosed with MND in 2018 but continued working for almost two years after diagnosis before retiring. He and his wife, Sharon, who is also a West Midlands officer, have worked relentlessly since to raise awareness of the terminal disease and funds into research around it.
Jon Nott, chair of West Midlands Police Federation, explained: “Chris initially came up with the idea of naming our new pups after MND heroes as a way to honour them but he had no idea there were plans to name one after him to do the same.
“What a great and fitting tribute to our former colleague whose life has been devastated by this cruel disease but who continues to be a hero in so many ways. I have no doubt that his namesake will be equally inspirational.”
The other pups have been named: Doddie, after rugby union player Doddie Weir; Burrow, after Leeds Rhinos player Rob Burrow MBE; Darby, after footballer Stephen Darby; Len, after footballer Lenny Johnrose; Rimmer, after soldier Chris Rimmer (who also set up the MND Warriors support group); Moss, after Emma Moss who runs the Mummy with MND blog; Primrose after Primrose Hospice; Hawkins, after Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte Hawkins’ work to raise awareness of the disease; Blue, the MND flagship colour; and Rollo, after retired West Midlands Sergeant John Rollason who was also nicknamed Rollo and passed away last month.
Jon added: “We can only hope that Chris’ work spreads through these dogs with people meeting them and asking what their names are and learning about this disease. What a wonderful way to raise awareness of MND.”
In addition, the inspiration for names for another new litter of police pups has come from Euros football fever. The seven sprockers, Sterling, Jude, Lineker, Rio, Bronze, Keegan and Marcus, were born in mid-June.
They were named following a huge response to the Force’s social media request for pup names after past or present England players. They should be operational in around 18 months.
