The online blunder that led a BBC team to unmask Europe-wide dog fighting network
24 hours ago Share Save Patrick Fee & Guy Grandjean BBC Spotlight Share Save
BBC Dogs are forced to fight in specially made pits
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 Crue
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