Dog fighting is as secretive as it is barbaric.
The people behind the illegal bloodsport carefully conceal their identities, fearful of arrest and prosecution. However, one dog fighter's IT mix-up led an undercover BBC investigation to unmask some of those involved in one of Europe's largest dog fighting networks.
The BBC has tracked fighting kennels to unlikely places in the UK – from a busy housing estate to the grounds of a stately home.
A simple mis-click from one member of a top-secret online dog fighting forum exposed the brutal reality of today's dog fighting. The leak revealed graphic match reports documenting fight after fight, injured animal after injured animal.
A vast haul of intelligence was quickly harvested by the animal welfare charities, the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA). That was the first glimpse of a highly secretive international dog fighting syndicate - one which the BBC has spent the past six months investigating and exposing.
Russ Middleton, a former police officer turned Head of Intelligence for LACS, remarked, I can't really put into words actually, it was just golden. The law across the UK bans not only fighting but also owning fighting dogs, training them to fight, trading animals, and filming fights without good reason.
The investigation uncovered several UK-based dog fighting kennels, including one in a busy housing estate in County Armagh. The BBC identified Boneyard Kennels as one of the UK's most significant dog fighters, operated by David Patterson, a mixed martial arts coach.
Despite Patterson’s denials of participating in dog fighting, evidence of his connection to this cruel sport was overwhelming. The investigation also revealed that dog fighting is much more common across the UK than people think. Experienced vet David Martin stated, It is going on in probably every major town and city in the UK. The League Against Cruel Sports has received over 600 reports of dog fighting since 2024, with more than 50% increase over the past two years.
In a compelling conclusion, the BBC posed as dog fighters, infiltrating the network to gather evidence, leading to the revelation of the true extent of dog fighting—a troubling reminder that this horrific activity exists right under our noses, concealed by secrecy and fear of the law.
