Police apologise for puppy ad that offended Muslims

by Nikki Sandison, Brand Republic 02-Jul-08, 15:00

LONDON - A police force has apologised to Muslims who complained that a crime-fighting ad featuring a puppy sitting in an officer's hat was offensive to the Islamic community.

Tayside Police apologised after some Muslims said they were upset because they consider dogs to be "ritually unclean" and several Dundee shopkeepers refused to put the postcards up in their windows.

The ad, which features a picture of a six-month-old black trainee police dog called Rebel, is part of a campaign to publicise Tayside Police's non-emergency telephone number.

The ad has been distributed on postcards to every home and business in the Tayside area.

Mohammed Asif, a Dundee City councillor who sits on the Tayside Joint Police Board, raised the matter at a meeting.

Asif said: "My concern was that it's not welcomed by all communities, with the dog on the cards. It was probably a waste of resources going to these communities."

Tayside Police admitted that their diversity officers should have been consulted before the cards were issued but some critics have said that the apology was unnecessary.

The force said that Rebel was chosen because he had proved extremely popular with children and adults locally since he joined the force aged six weeks, with thousands of people logging on to its website to read his online training diary.

A spokesperson for Tayside Police said: "His incredible worldwide popularity -- he has attracted record numbers to our website -- led us to believe Rebel could play a starring role in the promotion of our non-emergency number.

"However, we did not seek advice from the force's diversity adviser prior to publishing and distributing the postcards. That was an oversight and we apologise for any offence caused."