A fight between security staff and a gang of men attempting to get into a Birmingham city centre nightclub - where a man was killed last month - resulted in a dog being shot.

Police were called to the Air nightclub - home of the popular God's Kitchen events - in Digbeth at 1.35am on Monday after receiving reports of gunshots.

A group of about 15 hooded men had tried to force their way into the club in Heath Mill Lane where a post-Birmingham Carnival party was being held. During the skirmish with security staff, the dog, thought to be bull mastiff terrier, was shot.

One of the offenders may have received a bite from the dog during the incident.

Police are continuing with their inquiries and have carried out a forensic examination of the scene. On July 23, 32 -year-old Jamaican national Andrew Huntley, from Smethwick , died of gunshot wounds to the head outside the same club. A man and a boy, aged 18 and 14, have appeared in court in connection with the murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Jan Thomas-West, crime manager at Steelhouse Lane , said: "We are not ruling anything out completely but we are satisfied at the moment there is no link between these incidents. It is worrying when weapons are used but if you consider the thousands of people who go out and enjoy themselves in the city centre, these incidents are extremely isolated."

She added the police were working closely with the club and would review security arrangements at the venue.

So, what have we got to moan about this time?

How about the use of Patrol Dogs at nightclubs. There seems to be a small part of the dog handling industry who believe having these dogs on the doors helps with the security of the venue, how wrong could they be?

When people go to nightclubs, they are going with the intent of having a good time, they don’t go to be greeted by a GSD on the outside as well as the normal spaniel or lab on the inside. The use of GSDs, Dobermans or Rottweilers is at the very least offensive.

Two of our directors visited a Birmingham night spot recently and witnessed these dogs being used “for crowd control” said 1 handler who had the lead wrapped around his waist with his hands in his pockets, not a very professional image. When asked what form of training the handler had received to carry out the task of crowd control, he stated that he had an SIA Door Supervisors licence and he’d been working with dogs all his life but didn’t see the point in putting money into other people’s pockets just to have a piece of paper.

It is a shame that a minority of handlers are letting the side down with such attitudes as “there’s no licence, so I don’t need to do any courses if I don’t want to.” Isn’t it about time these so called handlers caught up with the twenty-first century and proved their professionalism. In the not too distant future, the term ‘no certificate, no job’ will be heard all around the country, laws are changing and so are the expectations of clients and public alike.