Exposing the sinister undercover world of dog fighting

It started with a tip off via Animal Crimewatch – our supporter-funded service where we record reports of activity relating to blood sports.

The informant told us about a network of suspected dog fighters operating across England, some of whom were already known to me, and so I began collecting intelligence on their activities.  

That was in late 2023. In January 2024 I began to see a reference to a specific kennels, called Boneyard Kennels, based in Northern Ireland, plus a named individual. It was relatively easy to find out more information on the kennels – there was an open profile on Facebook that included posts of the dogs, their training and when they were for sale. And from there I moved to researching this kennel using online resources used by dog fighters to upload pictures of their dogs with their pedigrees.

Our intelligence team undertakes work in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and over several years I have developed a very strong operational relationship with the USPCA – the Ulster Society for the Protection of Animals - and we have an understanding where we share relevant information and undertake collaborative working. 

When we spoke to the USPCA team it became clear that the named individual was known to them and historically his father was known to have been convicted of dog fighting. It was at this point we decided to enter into a joint investigation looking at the activities of Boneyard Kennels and the ever-expanding number of individuals linked to the named individual through dog ownership and Facebook interaction. 

The League’s intelligence team has considerable investigative skills and experience which includes the ability to access social media using profiles and move in the same circles as the dog fighters providing a rich source of intelligence, which has been developed over numerous years. 

As I began to research Boneyard with the USPCA I stumbled across a website forum, which surprisingly had not been locked down by password access and was open for all to see. This was to be their downfall. This forum was posting written details of dog fights, known as match reports, which details the full details of dog fights including the kennel names involved, dog names, referee by initials or kennel name, how long the dog fight lasted and a description of the fight as it progressed to the end. It also explained which dog won the fight and if any dog had died. 

We knew we had to act fast to capture everything from it before it was taken down. We worked hard to gather all the match fights and then our work with the USPCA went to the next level to try and identify all the dog fighting kennels names and who were behind them.  

Over time we began to realise this was a dog fighting organised crime network operating in the Republic of Ireland through to Northern Ireland and potentially in England. It is important to point out to our members that working in collaboration with the USPCA is critical for the successful outcome of this investigation. 

This joint investigation with the USPCA continued over most of 2024 with our intelligence findings being shared with the Police Service Northern Ireland. As time went by we had no contact or update from the PSNI, but in September 2024 the BBC got in touch with a view on featuring live dog fighting investigations.  We agreed this would be perfect to expose to show the public that dog fighting is happening, how it feeds into organised crime, and how the USPCA with the League Against Cruel Sports have the skills and experience to follow up on tip offs from the public. 

Simultaneously I received more information through our Animal Crimewatch service indicating there was a Telegram channel with dog fighters from across the globe exchanging videos of dog fights, details of dog fights being planned, and the match reports from dog fights that had already taken place. 

We managed to infiltrate Telegram and we soon found evidence of there being a dog fight in the Netherlands involving members of the group we had been investigating since that initial call into Animal Crimewatch in 2023. We passed our information to the Dutch police, but as yet there has been no action. 

I made the decision to break out the various intelligence packages on some of the ‘mainland’ dog fighting suspects and pass them onto the relevant police for action, but to date we have had no update from any police force and we suspect by now they have filed the information and are taking no further action. 

I would like to conclude by saying that without the public reporting their concerns to the League’s Animal Crimewatch service we would not be able to uncover these dog fighting criminals.  

Furthermore, this case is a great example of what can be achieved if two charities combine their effort towards a common goal. 

The BBC’s interview, which has now been broadcast, can be watched here.