Barbaric cruelty in the name of sport

Dogs are bought and sold, bred and trained all so that callous owners can get a kick from dog-fighting.

And while there have been no high-profile cases of the crime in the area for a number of years, the man in charge of stopping this sort of crime is in no doubt that it still goes on.

Ian Briggs, chief inspector with the RSPCA special operations unit, has been working on dog-fighting cases across the country for 15 years.

The charity issued a warning in 2010, after a number of dogs had been found with horrific injuries caused by dog fighting around the Black Country.

Mr Briggs said: "The most high profile dog fighting ring I can remember in the Midlands was one in Alum Rock in Birmingham. There we found a bundle of £3,000, which was the purse for the fight.

The two dogs involved were so badly injured that one died at the scene and the other had to be put to sleep.

One dog had 103 injuries and the other had 21.

The fight took place in rooms at the back of a kitchen unit shop. It was inside a makeshift pit, constructed of kitchen units and a treadmill.

Carpet had been put down to provide the dogs with extra grip and buckets of bloody water and sponge, used to wash the dogs down, were found nearby.

Police discovered the dogfight in progress after a member of the public called Crimestoppers.

While RSPCA officers were called to attend to the dogs, police surrounded the building and arrested the participants, herding them onto a flagged-down double-decker bus to take them to the police station.

The fight was attended by 26 people.

Seven people were jailed, with sentences ranging from three to six months in prison.

Speaking at the time, Chief Inspector Ian Briggs, said: "This was one of the most barbaric dogfights the RSPCA has ever come across. These individuals went along that evening with the sole purpose of watching those two dogs suffer an immense amount of pain.

"Hopefully these custodial sentences will act as a strong reminder to anyone thinking of fighting their animal, or attending a dogfight, that we will not hesitate in prosecuting.

"Since 2006, the West Midlands has really had more than it's fair share of dog fighting cases.

"There have definitely been dog fights held in Wolverhampton and other areas of the Black Country as well.

"Historically, the West Midlands has generated more dog fighting investigations than most."

The smashing of the dog fighting ring in Alum Rock in 2007, saw 26 men convicted for taking part in what was then the largest illegal dog-fight uncovered in the UK.

Years later, RSPCA warned that dog-fighting was on the rise in the Black Country after a spate of seriously injured dogs were found abandoned.

In 2010, at least five dogs were found dumped in Walsall in the space of two months, only two of them surviving.

A dog believed to have been beaten to death was found dead under a paving slab in Chaucer Road, Bloxwich in January, while a bleeding Staffordshire bull terrier called Honey limped into a Walsall tyre and exhaust unit in Fryers Road, Bloxwich, after being badly injured in a dog fight weeks later.

A two-year-old female Staffie-type was found dying on a towpath in Bentley, and a dog named Rocky suffering from 'the worst case of neglect' ever seen by local vets was rescued from Churchill Road in Bentley.

Elsewhere, a dead Staffordshire bull terrier was found in a box in Newhall Road, Rowley Regis.

Later that year, a dead dog covered in blood was dumped on a busy street in Smethwick.

The body of the pit bull terrier, which was believed to have been used in dog fights, was abandoned by two men in Broadmoor Avenue, who threw it out the side of transit van before fleeing.

And it was feared the horrific case of a dog was found hanged by a metal chain from railings in Dudley in June this year, could be linked to dog fighting .

In what the RSPCA described as a "horrific" and "deliberate" act the dead Staffordshire bull terrier/mastiff cross found in Bishop Close near to Kates Hill Primary School in Dudley.

Concerns have also been raised in recent years that thugs are training fighting dogs in Black Country parks. Chunks of bark have been ripped off trees in King George V playing fields in Bloxwich and in Bearwood Park.

Fighting dogs are encouraged to sharpen their teeth by ripping bark from trees and strengthen their jaws by hanging from branches.

In London the issue is so extreme that council bosses in Southwark have started smearing non-toxic grease on trees in public parks to stop them being damaged by fighting dogs.

Mr Briggs said it is mainly pit bull terriers that are used for fighting, but some new breeds are now being brought into the dog-fighting world.

He said: "The interest in dog-fighting is still there, but there are different types of dogs fighting now. There are your original sorts, which is generally restricted to put bull terrier, but now more mastiffs and dogs like that are coming into it."

The so-called sport has strong connections with the criminal underworld, but Mr Briggs said although dogs can be traded for large sums of money, it is not just about cash.

He said: "It's more about the bravado than the money, although we do find quite large amounts in connection with dog fighting.

"The sort of people who are into dog fighting enjoy the violence, so they get off on dog fighting. Quite often they are into martial arts.

"While there is money in connection to dog-fighting, we don't believe that is why they do it.

"Like most sports they want to be the best and have the prize asset, so it is more about the training of the dogs, and the money is spent on buying a dog with a good pedigree, rather than on betting."

Dog fighting cases are difficult to take to court because of the complex nature of the organised crime rings that carry out the fights.

They also involve a large number of organised criminals who are very often linked to other types of crime.