HERO police dog Nero is on death row because the force will not pay for a life-saving operation.

The seven-year-old sable German shepherd has spent a career catching criminals, finding missing people, and even providing blood transfusions for fellow hounds. But now he will be put to sleep rather than be put forward for the routine procedure that has a 90 per cent chance of success. His handler has been told he must now decide on what day the dog will be given a lethal injection and whether or not he wishes to accompany him on his last journey to the vet.

The decision to put Nero down has devastated the handler’s family, where he is a family pet loved by the PC’s wife, 13-year-old son and 17-year-old daughter. It is written into police handlers’ contracts that they look after the animals at their homes in proper kennels. Nero shares his kennel with Duke, a golden Labrador who is a top performing drug dog. Owing to Police Scotland regulations, dogs must be kept in pairs, which means Duke will need to be rehomed with another dog handler. That will effectively mean that the handler must be re-designated into another police division as a beat PC.

Nero’s fate was decided despite Police Scotland already spending £2,500 in vet fees and an MRI scan to diagnose that the dog has two slipped discs on his spine. It will cost around £50 to put Nero down rather than £2,900 for the slipped disc operation. Last night a force insider who contacted the Daily Record said the Dog Branch was up in arms at the inhumane decision. He said: “The force has always treated dogs well in the past and regarded them as one of their own. “These animals put their lives on the line in public service and they are so effective in fighting crime. “ It’s barbaric that they would condemn this animal to death when the chances are that an operation would allow it to live out a very happy life as a family pet.

Nero had shown no signs of injury until mid-February, when he began limping and was taken to a vet in Haddington. He was given anti-biotics and an x-ray, which was viewed by a consultant.The handler was given clearance to have an MRI scan done last week at Glasgow University Small Animal Hospital. The scan revealed that two slipped discs are putting pressure on Nero’s spinal cord, causing him to be wobbly on his rear legs.

Vets said there were two treatment choices - to operate, which has a very high success chance; to put Nero on drugs, which could be helpful but which could not rule out a recurrence later, which could be catastrophic. The choice also exists to do nothing and hope for the best, as some animals can recover naturally after rest.Police chiefs took those choices away by saying he would have to be destroyed. Nero was first assigned to a dog handler in another division before being allocated to his present handler.

Daily Record vet Neil McIntosh said he was surprised to hear of Nero’s situation as it suggested a shift in attitude towards police dogs in the new national force. He said: “I don’t know about this particular case in my many years of treating police dogs, they have been very well looked after.

“The police forces in Scotland have looked after them to the best of their ability and that would extend to veterinary care in times of need.

“You can’t stress enough how close a bond is forged between individual handlers and their dogs, as they will, in just about every case, become like one of the family.”

He added: “I think some people might consider that if a police car was damaged and it cost £2,000 or £3,000 to fit it, no-one would bat an eyelid.