8 Apr 2024
A home veterinary kit and a dog repair book were among the items seized in a probe that uncovered fights in England, France and Ireland.
Vet Times
Job Title
The fighting pit in the garage involved in the case.
Three men and a woman who were part of an international dog fighting ring have been convicted of multiple animal welfare offences.
More than 20 dogs were seized in a series of police raids during the RSPCA-led investigation – two of them days before they were scheduled to fight.
Inspectors also discovered a home veterinary kit for the treatment of sick and injured dogs at the home of one of the defendants, plus a mobile phone with a substantial volume of other evidence.
Phillip Harris Ali, 67 – of Manford Way in Chigwell, Essex – was found guilty of 10 offences under the Animal Welfare Act at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday 3 April, following a four-week trial.
The offences included four counts of keeping and/or training a dog for use in fighting, and two of causing a fight.
RSPCA officers first visited his home in the summer of 2021 after welfare concerns had been raised and found four dogs, plus a shed containing a portable kennel and two-dog running machines, on the premises.
Two dogs, together with dog fighting paraphernalia including the vet kit and a mobile phone, were later recovered from the site during an operation by Metropolitan Police officers in March 2022.
A witness statement said the vet kit was “substantial” and included skin staplers, an IV kit for fluids, bandages, needles, steroids, antibiotics, painkillers and medication.
Subsequent raids saw 18 more dogs, including several bull breeds suspected of being used in fighting, seized from the home of two of Ali’s co-defendants, Billy and Amy Leadley – of Bambers Green in Takeley, near Bishop’s Stortford – plus another dog from an address in Merseyside.
A copy of The Dog Repair Book was also found at the home of the fourth defendant, Stephen Albert Brown.
Evidence from the seized phone included discussion of training methods and the treatment of injuries, as well as indicating the group had been involved in at least four dog fights.
Two of those were held in England, with the others taking place in France and the Republic of Ireland. Still images from a deleted video of one of the fights were shown in court, though it was claimed in defence that the images showed the dogs mating.
Two of the seized dogs had also been due to take part in a fight around 10 days after the initial search took place.
Billy Leadley, 38, was convicted of nine charges, including counts of taking part in a fight by refereeing and keeping premises for use in fighting, and pleaded guilty to three others.
Amy Louise Leadley, 39, was found guilty of three allegations, including one of keeping premises for use in fighting, and pleaded guilty to a fourth charge at the end of the trial.
Brown, 56 – of Burrow Road in Chigwell – was convicted on three counts of keeping or training a dog for fighting, plus two of being present at a fight.
All four are due to be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on 3 June.
