Men filmed dogs killing wild animals near Market Drayton
Four men have been jailed after they allowed their pet dogs to savage a fox and attack a badger in its sett on the Shropshire border.
Daniel Ratchford, Reece Welsh, Ryan Kennedy and John Daly filmed the dogs attacking the fox as it took its last breaths in behaviour described by an RSPCA inspector as the most appalling act of barbaric fighting he'd ever witnessed.
Crewe Magistrates Court heard how the group was spotted acting suspiciously near the Brookfield Golf Course, near Market Drayton, in February last year.
Police were called and a search of their vehicle found six dogs – some with serious injuries – and hunting paraphernalia.
The men all claimed in interview that they had just been "rabbiting", with permission when a fox had come into the area.
Photographs
But during an investigation by the RSPCA a phone was seized from Daly which contained photographs and video footage of a fox being savaged by a dog and a badger being attacked by one of the dogs.
Ratchford, of Greater Manchester, was given a 12-week prison term, banned from keeping dogs for life and ordered to pay £200 court costs. Three Liverpool men – Welsh, Kennedy and Daly were also jailed.
Daly and Welsh had pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett by causing a dog to enter the sett. Daly also pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett and causing unnecessary suffering by causing a fight to take place between a dog and a fox.
Welsh, Ratchford and Kennedy admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a Lurcher dog by causing it to fight a fox and failing to take such steps to prevent that happening.
