Man phones 999 to complain his dog was shaved by pet groomer rather than trimmed

Met Police point out emergency operators are there to deal with serious crimes only

Police have hit out at the public who block up their 999 number with non-emergency calls, after a man rang up complaining an animal groomer shaved his dog rather than give it the trim he wanted.

The Met Police released a recording of the unnamed man phoning in his trivial issue to its switchboard, which it says is there for serious crimes or a traffic collision where people are injured.

It tweeted the conversation in a bid to educate the public and free up its telephone service – saying wasteful calls could “prevent others who are in danger from getting through to us”.

In the conversation, a Met operator can be heard saying: “Hallo, police, what’s your emergency?”

The man said: “Hallo, em, I’m having this dispute between a dog grooming place ... What happened is that I took my dog there to get him a grooming, and I specifically told the person I do not want shaved, I want him to be trimmed.

“However, that person has shaved my dog ..” The recording then cuts off abruptly.

The Met captioned its tweet: “Outraged by a fox walking outside or your dog being shaved instead of trimmed? #ThinkBeforeYouDial 999. Calling 999 when a crime is not an emergency may prevent others who are in danger from getting through to us”.

A further Met tweet with a video detailed a woman who phoned 999 to say she had an intruder in her house, with the post showing officers being dispatched to the scene to “potentially save lives”.