I am writing to you to beg for your help in bringing our cherished dog, who has been taken from us, injured, and unfairly retained for an exceedingly long time by the police, home.

On the 9th of September 2022, I was out walking my dog, Kojo. Kojo is an adult rescue dog, an old English bulldog. As Kojo is a rescue dog he is always on a lead and harness wherever we go.

On this day I decided to take Kojo on a walk to Old Smithy's Pound, located in Maltby. Whilst on the walk Kojo and I encountered another gentleman and his dog. The dog was running off the lead, my dog had become fixed on the dog, which is normal for Kojo as he doesn't know how to introduce himself to other dogs- with being in kennels and having a history of limited socialisation. I warned the gentleman that Kojo is a rescue dog, and he proceeded to tell me "I don't like rescue dogs, you can't trust them". The gentleman insisted on getting closer to me and Kojo, so I tried backing away as much as I could, but was forced to back into a bush. I was clearly uncomfortable and desperately trying to escape the situation. Kojo was still fixed on the other dog, then without warning or hesitation, the gentleman went to touch Kojo on the head. Unfortunately, in fear Kojo bit the man, once on the arm and once on the leg. I managed to rush Kojo away from the situation and went back to check on the gentleman.

I took my t-shirt off and used it to cover his wounds best as I could, I then rang my parents who came up to the Pound with a first aid kit. When my parents arrived, my mum asked him if he would like us to call him an ambulance, but despite us trying to help he refused three times. We attended to the wounds to the best of our ability and my mother accompanied the man to the doctors so he could get a tetanus shot. The doctor's office was closed so we were advised to go to Rotherham accident and Emergency. But my mother told me he wanted to go home and shower and wanted his sister to take him. Whilst my mother was with the gentleman, my partner Amy met me at home after leaving work. Amy had gotten in touch with the rescue, and they advised a muzzle.

By this time, my partner and parents were heartbroken. After an hour or so Amy and I set off to find a muzzle for Kojo. Amy had also ordered a caution collar and a do not pet lead. That night in an attempt to do the right thing we reported the incident to 101. Within the following days, The Blue Cross came out to see Kojo and help us muzzle-train him. Kojo was doing very well during the training.

On the 3rd of October, I was at home with my nephew and Kojo. In the afternoon there was a knock on my front door. Three officers in uniform told me they had come to seize Kojo. I rang my partner, who rushed home from work, but by this time, there was only PC Clark there. Amy asked PC Clark if he had a warrant or anything to prove he was taking Kojo, his reply to Amy was "if you don't hand him other, we will just come in riot gear and take him" which petrified Amy who suffers with her mental health as well. Kojo was in the other room screaming and crying to get to me, so Amy went in to try and calm Kojo down.

PC Clark left and another officer took over, who allowed us some time in the garden with Kojo. At around 5:30 pm, a gentleman from a kennel came to pick Kojo up. Kojo showed no aggression to the gentleman or the other police officer who took over from PC Clark. Kojo licked the man and just wanted to have a fuss. Kojo was taken away from us... we tried numerous times to get an update on Kojo through PC Clark who has stated it would more than likely be a couple of weeks. We felt like we were not getting any information, just that he was doing ok.

Then we found a group called 'help, police have seized my dog' who directed us to a solicitor. With a fee of £150, we finally got a long-awaited, decent update. Each Monday we messaged the solicitors. Moving to 6/12/22 we got told our dog has suffered an injury to his right hind leg, he was seen by their vet. Kojo has hip dysplasia and luxating patella, which we got told by email. This was not something we were aware of beforehand and their handling of this medical information was completely inadequate.

On their end, there was also a circulation of false information, accusations against me of purchasing two more dogs and Kojo having attacked another dog in the past, which is simply not true. The solicitor tried to push to get Kojo home under a voluntary placement order, but this was denied, and I was told they do not use ICOs throughout all the emails. I have been told that Kojo hasn't shown any poor behavior towards anyone during his time there, only humping, which is a natural stress reaction and stopped once the injury occurred. Over Christmas and New Year, we haven't had any updates. On 30/01/23 we rang PC Clark to see what was happening with the investigation, and asked if there is any way we could have Kojo home, he straight away refused as he doesn't think it is safe to do so as he thinks Kojo is 'too aggressive'. We called our solicitor who wasn't happy with this outcome, so she contacted PC Clark. PC Clark is blaming the NHS for not sending the gentleman's medical records over to go to CPS. He isn't helping us.

This entire ordeal is causing my mental health to rapidly decrease, I'm constantly concerned about Kojo's welfare and treatment. I am writing to you, to ask for your help to get our dog home, so we can get him better vet treatment, and he'll be in comfort. We are willing to keep Kojo restricted to the house and garden, and he will never be left alone. Many people have met Kojo and always commented on what a well-behaved, good boy he is. Kojo has been around my nephew and is always happy to lay with him, he has never shown aggression towards him. Even when introduced to my partner's elderly grandma, he had a natural understanding that he had to be so gentle around her, just enjoying the attention. There was a time when paramedics had to come to our home to see my partner, so we put Kojo in the other room. The paramedics asked to say hello, and again Kojo showed no aggression, just enjoyed the attention and love. Even at my parent's house, Kojo will try and sit on my mother's knee, my dad has suffered a broken hip and Kojo showed no aggression towards him just his usual innate sweetness and gentleness. Kojo cries when I'm not around him, and just as he needs me, my beloved dog has helped me in so many ways. Please if there is anything you could do to help get my boy home where he belongs, it would be very much appreciated.

PS- Kojo passed all his behaviour test before coming to live with us, and always well behaved. People ask to touch him, not just willingly do it. He didn’t need to be muzzled before this as he was NO threat to anyone! He hasn’t shown ANY aggression to any of the staff members within the kennels just a bit of humping