A former police dog handler has described shooting a dog as 'the last resort' in the wake of an incident in Ipswich where armed officers put an animal down.

Police were called to an incident on Tuesday evening on the shoreline near Orwell Country Park to reports that a dog was out of control, had bitten two people and attacked another dog.

On arrival, officers found the dog to be unstable and in extreme distress and were not able to bring it safely under control. 

Members of the public who were present in the area were moved away and out of sight of the dog before it was put down.   

Mandy Chapman worked as a police dog handler for the Metropolitan Police for 24 years and has extensive training and experience on the matter.

Ipswich Star: Mandy Chapman with her retired police dog Baloo.Mandy Chapman with her retired police dog Baloo. (Image: Mandy Chapman)

She described the incident in Ipswich as a "rare" occurrence, recalling only four times in her entire career where a dog had to be put down by armed police.

"It really, truly is the last resort," she said.

"We are humans and we do try everything before having to resort to that.

"We approach these dogs with kindness, giving them little treats and trying every other alternative.

"Putting the dog down is the last thing we want to do."

Though she has been retired for over 10 years, volunteering with Essex Police with her two retired police dogs, Ms Chapman remembers the details of the incidents in which the teams she worked with had to put dogs down.

"I remember every single detail of it. It was just awful," she said.

"Afterwards, when we were taking our notes, I walked into the room and you could tell which officer had shot the dog.

"The other officers had their arms around their back of their chair."

Anyone with any information on the Ipswich incident is being asked to contact Suffolk police on 101 quoting the CAD 350 of July 11.