Sick dog owners forced pit bulls to fight each other for hours at a time
Asif Ali and Sohail Hussain put on the deadly fights on a ''significant scale' by pitting bull breeds against each other for hours in a basement in Birmingham
Two men have been jailed for organising brutal dog fights in a basement which lasted for hours.
Asif Ali, 33, and Sohail Hussain, 46, arranged the deadly contests on a ''significant scale" by pitting bull breeds against each other in Birmingham. Ali was involved in the On Smoke Kennels brand, training dogs out of a basement at an address in Ash Road, Alum Rock, which was also used to host the fights.
Birmingham Crown Court was told one of his dogs, named Roxy, was killed following one attack. Hussain was associated with a kennel brand called UK Gladiators, which bought dogs from inside and outside of the UK which were used for fighting. Organised dog fighting has been illegal in Britain since 1835.
They both admitted keeping or training an animal for use in fighting, causing an animal to fight and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. Ali also pleaded guilty to possessing items designed or adapted for use in connection with an animal fight., BirminghamLive report.
He was sentenced to 17 months while Hussain was jailed for 21 months. Both were also banned from keeping animals indefinitely. Scales, a treadmill and harness were found inside the basement of the Ash Road address along with an area for holding fights, some of which were recorded on video.
Ali advertised and promoted events through the OSK brand. He kept four fighting dogs between October 2022 and September 2023, three of which suffered injuries. Hussain ran a subscription website called 'Team Gladiatorz' which provided fight reports and advertised dogs.
He provided dogs to be fought at Ash Road and organised events. Messages also revealed Hussain discussing the breeding and selling of 'killer dogs', as well as expanding his operations into Europe.
Two of the dogs rescued from Ash Road had multiple areas of scarring as well as puncture wounds to their head, legs and chest.
Judge Paul Farrer KC, passing sentence, said: "All of these offences arise out of your activities in connection with organising dog fighting on a significant scale. This is an activity of almost indescribable cruelty in which dogs are trained to keep fighting regardless of how injured they become.
"The evidence demonstrates that fights can last hours as opposed to minutes, and many dogs do not survive a fight or survive but die afterwards. If a dog does survive, it will almost inevitably be injured but cannot be taken to a vet because of the tell-tale nature of its injuries."
He added: "Those who engage in dog fighting do so because they derive a warped sense of enjoyment from the spectacle, because they seek to make money from gambling and because they revel in the kudos they garner amongst their peer group. This applies in each of your cases."
In mitigation the court heard Ali is a father-of-one who helped care for his mother. Hussain has a previous conviction from 2006 for attending a dogfight.
He is wheelchair-bound having suffered a spinal injury as a result of a shooting more than 15 years go.