Case Report

A Cambridge man has been sent to prison after RSPCA special operations unit inspectors and police officers raided his house during a dogfight.

Andrew Crowe, 36, was given a six-month sentence for causing unnecessary suffering and causing animals to fight. He was fined �500, ordered to pay �2,000 costs and was banned from having custody of dogs for 30 years.

The accomplices
Accomplice Glenn Brown, 28, also from Cambridge, was given 480 hours community service for causing unnecessary suffering and possessing a dangerous dog, fined �500, ordered to pay �5,000 costs and banned from having custody of dogs for 20 years.

Earlier, co-accused Mark Willis, 32, of Chesterton, admitted possession of a dog bred for fighting and was found guilty of being present at a dogfight. He was fined �400, ordered to pay �5,000 costs and banned from having custody of dogs for 15 years.

Injured dogs
Two badly injured pit bull-type dogs were found at the raid with puncture wounds to the face, forelegs and head and one had a torn ear. A third dog had scarring from old injuries.

Items removed from the address and confiscated on the judge�s orders included a treadmill for improving the dogs� fitness, blood-stained tarpaulin and two �breaking sticks� used to push into the dogs� mouths to separate them during a fight. Video evidence played to the court showed a makeshift pit in the garage where the dogs had fought.

References