The Dutch police should focus on the country’s security and a special section devoted to animals could be abolished, according to MPs from the right-wing ruling VVD.

The ‘animal cops’ were set up at the behest of the anti-immigration PVV when it was a silent partner in the previous government. Some 500 officers should have been trained to deal with animal issues but the plan never really took off and there are only around 160.

MPs are due to debate the state of the country’s police forces with justice minister Ivo Opstelten on Wednesday morning.

The VVD thinks there should be a more critical eye cast over what jobs the police are given. ‘A lot of things the police are responsible for have nothing to do with security and could be taken over by other organisations,’ VVD parliamentarian Ockje Tellegen told website nu.nl.

‘The minister needs to draw up a list and look at what can be scrapped so the police have more time for their core role: public order and safety,’ Tellegen said.