An unwanted Staffie abandoned to a pound, has transformed her life from rescue dog to royal protector after being picked out of a line up by police.
After intensive training and on-the-job success, Roxy now has two very special bosses, each of them called Camilla, one is her owner and handler PC Camilla Carter and the other is Camilla, Queen Consort.
For six-year-old PD Roxy is now a trusted member of the search unit which handles high profile public events such as Royal visits, searching for suspicious packages, sweeping venues ahead of royal and ministerial visits, as well as responding to bomb threats and searching private jets.
Read more: Battersea rescue terriers to take up royal residence in Buckingham Palace
And it is understood the mighty little Staffie has been on royal duties following the death of the Queen on September 8.
Handler PC Carter said: “Roxy is a superstar. She’s intelligent, very systematic and thorough. For her, it’s all a big, fun game and she just loves to work.
”We work together to search for explosives in lots of circumstances, to make sure VIPs and members of the public are safe. Roxy is one of nine dogs who work on the specialist search unit and we’re responsible for high risk missing persons cases as well as counter terrorism and serious crime searches.
“Roxy and I worked at Windsor Castle ahead of the private wedding of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and we secured the local area ahead of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. I’m incredibly proud of her for carrying out such an important job ahead of such large events, both happy and sad.”
Roxy was abandoned in 2017 and was rescued by the RSPCA and taken in by the charity’s centre in Somerset. The staff - who have spent more than a decade working with police forces to identify and supply rescue dogs to training programmes - soon spotted Roxy’s potential.
Supervisor Sue Dicks, who has submitted 18 dogs to training, including six Staffies, said: “Roxy was the right age, was good around people and other dogs, and was really confident. She was also very ball-focused - something that’s really important in training - and was incredibly determined.”
Roxy was enrolled in a 10-week boot camp at Avon & Somerset Police, where she underwent intensive training on how to detect explosives, learning how to tell what scents to look for and how to signal her thoughts to her handlers.
She spent two years with the team before moving to the Hampshire and Thames Valley specialist search unit and partnering with PC Camilla Carter to complete their training in February 2020 and PD Roxy became the only Staffie working as an explosives search dog in the UK.
And the extrovert little Staffie who has worked for the Royal Family a number of times since finishing her training at Hampshire and Thames Valley, is understood to have been on Royal duties in the last week too.
Roxy follows in the pawprints of several Staffies who have taken on crime-fighting jobs. Avon & Somerset Police took on Staffie Kos in 2012, followed two years later by rescued stray Stella and, in 2016, Boris joined the ranks too.
RSPCA dog welfare expert Dr Samantha Gaines said: “Sadly, Staffies often receive a bad reputation that they simply don’t deserve. Just like any dog, given the right upbringing and care, they can make loving family pets or, like Roxy, crime-fighting super sniffer heroes.
"Unfortunately, Staffies have suffered from overbreeding and bad press in recent years and we see more Staffordshire Bull Terriers and Staffie-crosses coming into our care than any other type of dog.
"But dogs like Roxy are a wonderful example of how clever Staffies can be and may help to change the public’s perception of the breed."
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