This article was originally written by Isobel Williams for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
London’s Waterloo station has become the first major train station in Britain to put dogs on regular security patrols, employing canine colleagues Riley, Buster, and Flo as part of a three-month trial to offer passengers increased safety assurance.
Like a real-world version of the animated kids’ show Paw Patrol, the pups were deployed by South Western Railway and Network Rail Wessex in partnership with canine security company Alpha Canine Specialists. And although we know they have very serious jobs, it’s hard not to break out in a grin when looking at their happy faces.
Riley, aged 11, and Buster, aged 9, are cocker spaniels, while Flo, aged 10, is a Labrador. This will be the trio’s final deployment before retirement.
Intended to act as a visual deterrent for wrongdoers, the dogs are part of a wider program designed to keep railway customers and colleagues safe. Other recent measures include equipping staff with body-worn cameras, launching a CCTV upgrade, and investing in a dedicated outreach worker who engages with vulnerable young people around the station.
“Security needs constant innovation and we’re taking positive steps to reassure our customers that we take their safety very seriously,” Dan Harrison, station manager at Waterloo, said in a South Western Rails news release.
He emphasized that the decision to add Riley, Buster, and Flo to the employee roster was a preventative measure.
“Deploying these dogs is not linked to any increased threat. It’s simply part of providing more visual deterrence and offering our customers some additional reassurance,” Harrison said. “In the same way, we recently equipped all our colleagues with new hi-vis tabards to make them more easily identifiable to customers in the station who might need their help.”
While the new job duties might not be quite as thrilling as chasing birds off an airport runway like these two border collies do in West Virginia, getting adoring looks from passersby all day comes with its own benefits package.
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