British Bomb-Sniffing Dogs To Wear Bootees So As Not To Offend Muslims

As my bud Reliapundit says, "What's next? Doggie Burqas?"

From J.R. at the Astute Bloggers:

Police sniffer dogs will have to wear bootees when searching the homes of
Muslims so as not to cause offence. Guidelines being drawn up by the Association
of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) urge awareness of religious sensitivities when
using dogs to search for drugs and explosives. The guidelines, to be published
this year, were designed to cover mosques but have been extended to include
other buildings.

Where Muslims object, officers will be obliged to use
sniffer dogs only in exceptional cases. Where dogs are used, they will have to
wear bootees with rubber soles. "We are trying to ensure that police forces are
aware of sensitivities that people can have with the dogs to make sure they are
not going against any religious or cultural element within people's homes. It is
being addressed and forces are working towards doing it," Acpo said.

Problems faced by the use of sniffer dogs were highlighted last week
when Tayside police were forced to apologise for a crime prevention poster
featuring a german shepherd puppy, in response to a complaint by a Muslim
councillor. Islamic injunctions warn Muslims against contact with dogs, which
are regarded as "unclean".

Police dogs at present are issued with
footwear only at scenes of explosions to prevent them injuring their paws on
broken glass.

Ibrahim Mogra, one of Britain's leading imams, said the
measures were unnecessary: "In Islamic law the dog is not regarded as impure,
only its saliva is. Most Islamic schools of law agree on that. If security
measures require to send a dog into a house, then it has to be done. I think
Acpo needs to consult better and more widely. "I know in the Muslim community
there is a hang-up against dogs, but this is cultural. Also, we know the British
like dogs; we Muslims should do our bit to change our attitudes."

John
Midgley, co-founder of the Campaign Against Political Correctness, said: "The
police are in effect being overly sensitive to potential criminals and not being
sensitive enough to the public at large who need to be protected. These sort of
things have a counter-productive effect because they cause huge friction between
different communities." Caroline Kisko, of the Kennel Club, said: "We would not
condone any attempt to make search dogs wear special clothing, which could cause
them distress."

Source

If it's the dog saliva which causes Muslims offense, maybe the dogs should be forced to wear Dental Dams, you know, the things created for "Safe Oral Sex."

Then, the Muslims can also get a blow job from the dog while their homes are being searched.

The Chief of Police in London, when asked for comment, responded,

"Woof, woof, woof. Woof Woof."

I think he's got a good point.