Dark the PSNI public order dog with his paw bandaged after getting seven stitches

A PSNI public order dog need seven stitches to his left leg after being struck with an iron grating during serious rioting in Belfast city centre on Friday night.

Dark is picture hear with a bandage on his left paw and ankle which took the full force of the impact.

During the same violence, a PSNI officer was knocked unconscious after he was struck on the neck with an iron grating.

The riot squad officer was treated at the scene by paramedics and his neck was put in a brace as a precaution before being taken away for treatment in hospital.

On Monday, a senior PSNI chief has said loyalist protestors opposed to a republican parade in Belfast city centre on Friday evening were intent on violence.

A total of 58 police officers were injured during the trouble in Belfast city centre.

Police fired 26 plastic bullets and made eight arrests on Friday night amid sustained rioting in Royal Avenue.

A number of civilians were also injured, including UUP MLA Michael Copeland, his wife and daughter.

He has complained to the PSNI after he was struck his leg by a police baton and his complaint has now been passed to the Police Ombudsman.

Hours before the parade, Belfast Daily revealed that police feared violence from both loyalists and republicans during the parade.

Some commanders were concerned that there were would not be enough resources on the ground if things turned violent.

PSNI riot squad officer knocked out after struck by metal missile in Royal Avenue on Friday night

Loyalists bused in protestors from Antrim, Down and Armagh to bolster numbers for the anti-republican protest in Royal Avenue.

Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton said none of the loyalist protest groups appeared to show any leadership that would have prevented the violence.

“It was pretty clear to us from about half past five on Friday that there was a significant number, probably the majority of people on Royal Avenue, determined not to engage properly with the police, but probably had some violent intent,” he said.

“There was no semblance of any organisation or co-ordination or leadership from any protest group, we just couldn’t see it.

“We didn’t see at any point, and we were monitoring it all week as you can imagine, any mobilisation to protest in a way that people had notified to the Parades Commission, it just simply didn’t happen.

“Instead what we saw was chaos, disorganisation and violence being meted out against our officers.”

ACC Hamilton said he did not think there had been too few police at the protests, saying they were “only so many police officers you can put into Royal Avenue”.

He said he was amazed how frontline officers were able to maintain good morale despite the violence.

“The resilience and the tenacity of our rank and file officers simply amazes me, I am extremely proud of them,” he said.

“We had 56 officers injured on Friday night, several of them with significant enough injuries, who were insisting on going back on the frontline.

“Many of those people, even those who left the frontline on Friday night, were back at work at half past five on Saturday morning to travel to Derry/Londonderry to uphold other people’s rights to parade around the city.”

Parades Commission chairman Peter Osborne said Friday’s violence in Belfast stood in marked contrast to a peaceful parade in Londonderry on Saturday.

“On Saturday 5,000 Apprentice Boys held their annual parade in Derry/Londonderry without rancour and with a sense of celebration and cooperation,” he said.

“By contrast on Friday we witnessed in Belfast scenes of unwarranted lawlessness by people intent on violence. No excuses justify the violence.”