The Home Office has been sending staff on 'Swedish dog massage' courses, it was revealed today.

Nearly £1,000 was spent on the unusual lessons last September to ensure that sniffer dogs are 'well looked after'.

There have also been other costs for 'dog enrichment', such as £574.70 on puzzles and sand for play pits in April. 

Transparency logs show that last May there was a £706.81 spend on items including a paddling pool and sandpit lids.

The details emerged after ministers ordered Whitehall departments to crack down on spending on government credit cards.

However, the Home Office has robustly defended the outlay on dogs, Cuttack call girls accusing critics of 'barking up the wrong tree'. 




Detector dogs are used to find drugs and other contraband items at the UK border (file picture)

Detector dogs are used to find drugs and other contraband items at the UK border.