Fed rep honoured to represent Force at Crufts
9 June 2025
West Midlands Police Federation workplace representative Sue Cheek said it was ‘an honour’ to demonstrate the Force’s dog unit at this year’s Crufts.
Sue was one of a number of officers recognised for their work with the unit, receiving a round of applause with Police Dogs Viper and Chase as they are retiring.
Dave Raymond, the Force’s breed scheme manager, was presented with an award by Crufts for his dedication and commitment to the show for the past 20 years.
And handler PC Paul Hopley was presented with a lifetime achievement award on his retirement, along with his retired police dog Stark, by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.
The Duchess is patron of the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA), which promotes the care, well-being and welfare of retired service animals.
PC Hopley posted on his social media: “What a fabulous retirement gift. A lovely surprise and gesture to commemorate Stark’s service. Thank you so much.”
Sue said Crufts, the world’s largest dog show, was a highlight of the year.
Honour
“It was a fabulous few days,” she said. “We got to show off the dogs and their capabilities and give some support back to the dog world.
“I absolutely love it. I love my job, so to be able to go there and represent the Force and our amazing dog unit is a real honour. To put yourself out there on the big stage and get everyone to look at what you can do is brilliant.
“We do a demonstration every day in the main arena and just before best in show as well, so it’s quite a big thing for us to be there. And then we do a couple of little displays as well, so if people can’t get into the main bit, they get a chance to see the dogs working.”
Police dogs Viper and Chase.
Sue said they had a huge amount of engagement with the public, particularly around the work of the unit’s digital media dogs.
“We have a stand where people can come and chat to us about what we do,” she said.
“We get a lot of people ask us how to become a dog handler, but people may be interested in being a puppy walker, and helping to make it a steady dog before it goes into police work.
“We get to show off some of the dog’s achievements over the previous 12 months.
Communities
“We talk about some of the roles that we play, the roles that the dogs do, and how we can support our communities.
“This year we talked a lot about our ‘digi dogs’. They’re little search dogs, like spaniels or sprockers, and they will find anything digital-related or with a chip in it.
“They search for trackers, mobile phones, SIM cards, USB sticks, memory sticks, anything like that.
“We deal with people who like to hide information electronically. It could be drug dealers hiding phones, people with inappropriate photographs, people accessing the dark web, and dogs will go in and indicate locations where there is digital media being hidden.
“They are amazing dogs – they all are,” she added.
