VW adds Caddy dog van to blue light conversion line-up

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has added a police dog van to its range of approved conversions for the Caddy.

It features a removable dog kennel with adjustable temperature controls and a complete blue light conversion featuring lights, siren and livery.

The specialist canine unit is designed to support the vital work of police dogs following the passing of “Finn’s Law”. The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Bill gives the animals greater protection on patrol and is named after police dog Finn, who sustained serious injuries while on service and shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent this year as part of the campaign.

The kennel has been built to DEFRA/RSPCA animal welfare specification which dictates size along with ventilation and air conditioning systems. The Caddy dog van also features temperature monitoring which alerts the driver if the dog is too hot or cold. The settings can be adjusted from the cabin without the need to stop the vehicle.

The conversion is carried out by Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles’ Approved Blue Light Converter PressFab Evo in Bedfordshire. It uses a Volkswagen Caddy in Highline trim as the base vehicle, powered by a 2.0-litre 150PS diesel engine.

Steven Cowell, technical sales manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “Our latest blue light conversion is a fully-operational dog van based on our Volkswagen Caddy. We’re delighted by the finished product after months of hard work by the team in partnership with PressFab Evo. Police forces require a versatile and reliable vehicle and that’s exactly what the Caddy offers, and why it’s already so popular with such a wide range of businesses.”

Public sector fleets, like police forces or ambulance services, often require specialist conversions and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles offers a range of solutions to the Crown Commercial Service for different operational purposes.