Tyson the first Staffordshire Bull Terrier sniffer/police dog has been destroyed.

Avon and Somerset police have confirmed that Tyson has been destroyed.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary The RSPCA and the Police Tri-Force Specialist Operations Collaboration are extremely upset to confirm that sniffer dog Tyson was confirmed to be of 'Pit Bull type' and returned to the charity's West Hatch animal centre.
Tyson was one of 12 dogs to be successfully rehomed to various police forces from the Somerset-based animal centre. He was an 18 month old dark brindle and white dog who went to West Hatch in January 2013. He showed a great potential for searching and Tri-Force Specialist Operations were evaluating him with a view to him potentially becoming a search dog.
After he was collected by PC Lee Webb and taken to Avon and Somerset Police to be evaluated, two Police Dog Legislation Officers subsequently identified Tyson as being of Pit Bull type, which means he was a Pit Bull cross. As a result he had to be returned to West Hatch a week later.
Sadly, as Pit Bull type dogs are not able to be legally rehomed, vets had to put Tyson to sleep. The outcome has devastated both police dog handlers and RSPCA staff who cared for and trained Tyson over a number of months.
Tyson was not suspected of being a banned breed by the RSPCA when he was taken on and in many cases it is extremely difficult to tell if a cross breed dog has parentage from a banned breed.
Inspector Dave Eddy, who is in charge of the Tri-Force Dog Section which covers Avon and Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Constabularies, said: “We are absolutely devastated that Tyson had to be returned to West Hatch and that due to being a banned breed, he had to be put to sleep in accordance with The Dangerous Dog Act.
“It can be very hard to identify the dangerous breeds if they are mixed with other breeds that look similar such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers. In Tyson’s case, it was our expert Dog Legislation Officers who identified the physical traits.
“A number of our drug and explosive search dogs are rescue dogs and include Labradors, Springer Spaniels and Staffordshire Bull Terriers (Staffies). PC Lee Webb who looked after Tyson was particularly upset. PC Webb already handles a rescue Staffie, PD Kos, who is an excellent search dog. We will continue to use rescue dogs and work with the RSPCA to use rescue dogs wherever possible.”

he was said to have been breed identified and found to have ''57 recognised identification points'' of prohibited breed characteristics.

Eleanor wrote:
You can bet the majority, if not all, of those 'identification points' would have been stupid little things.