Real Dog Fight - Dog fighting fanatics in Northern Ireland are breeding 'Frankenstein dogs' which are being bred to be killed before being sold for £5,000, it was revealed today.
Animals are born in backyard puppy farms before being bled as stolen pets, fox cubs and eventually badgers before battling other fighting dogs in bloody battles where their owners can buy thousands in bets and prize money.
Real Dog Fight
And animal rights campaigners are calling on Stormont to close what they say is a loophole that allows sick trades to flourish.
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Researchers from the League Against Cruel Sports say the underground fighting dog breeding industry is using the fact that hunting with dogs is still legal in Northern Ireland to cover up a sickening trade.
They say there is an overlap between legal "terrier work" and illegal dog fighting with violent dog attacks on animals such as wolves being used as a "smoke screen" for dogs that can be trained to hunt badgers, which is the opposite of the law.
Dogs that have proven themselves against wolves and badgers can "graduate" to fighting other dogs in underground fights that are often filmed for social media or made into DVDs sold online or in markets.
Dog fighting is linked through a criminal web of dog breeding operations, badger baiting and pet theft with some involved making huge sums of money while inflicting untold cruelty on countless animals, including the dogs themselves.
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The people behind the depraved trade often record their antics on phones to keep track of the dog's progress from puppy to killer. The footage is then used as proof of the animal's credentials when sold for badger bait or dog fighting.
Films, sometimes found on social media, show bloody attacks in which dogs can be seen mauling domestic cats, tearing the throats of young foxes and teaming up with others to kill badgers as crowds watched and jeered.
Other videos, sometimes local, others from Eastern Europe, have been seen showing dogs tearing each other apart in domestic pits. Blood-soaked dogs are often forced to fight to the death.
Footage of cats and badgers being attacked by dogs emerged in 2011 after police raided homes in East Belfast and confiscated a mobile phone.
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However, the judge said the prosecution "was unable to testify against any of the four accused before the court to record the video clip, or to be actually present at the scene".
The four, Jeremiah Kirkwood and his two sons Christopher and Wayne and friend Jamie Morrow, received suspended sentences after pleading guilty to a series of offences, including owning or training an animal for fighting.
The judge said it was his understanding "the dogs were bled in this way to train them to fight other animals in blood sports, including badgers, foxes and deer".
The can that reveals the cats and small dogs used in the bleeding process is often stolen or obtained under false pretenses.
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The league even considers certain areas black spots for lost pets. Animals advertised online as "free to good homes" are targeted by dog-fighting gangs who sometimes send girls with children to collect animals to give the impression they will become family pets.
East Belfast has been cited as an area where pets are disappearing, while at a meeting in Newtown Abbey a few weeks ago, local residents feared cats would disappear. At the meeting, which was attended by police and political officials, locals feared more than a dozen cats had been taken and killed in nearby Monkstown Wood.
Local residents have also expressed concern that they will no longer be able to walk their dogs in the forest for fear of being caught in traps.
The league said there were a number of other areas where similar scares had occurred, including reports in Larne of missing cats - with one found on a bait cage.
Bait For Cruelty
A good fighting dog is said to sell for between £2,000 and £5,000 and sometimes more. The connection or overlap between the world of dog fighting and illegal breeders occurs when they crossbreed different breeds in an attempt to create the strongest, fastest and fiercest animals they can.
Some fighting dogs are bred from a mix of the Dogue de Bordeaux, known for its huge head and powerful jaws, and the Pitbull, known for its strong upper body.
These "Frankenstein dogs" are often bred in the backyards of breeders who pride themselves on registration rules with only three breeding dogs producing one litter of puppies per year.
Once snakes can no longer produce waste, they and fighting dogs no longer considered useful are sometimes shot and buried.
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Blood fights have also taken on an international element as fight organizers now use signed DVDs, mostly from the Middle East, and bet on filmed fights with a twist, trading that there is little risk compared to real dog fighting, but still . illegal.
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