Dog Baiting In Nottingham

Police Worried It Could Be 'Training' For Fighting Dogs

It follows the discovery of a young dog - tied to a fence in a park in St Ann's in Nottingham - and a number of young men had been spotted encouraging Staffordshire Bullterrier type dogs to attack her.

She had to be treated at for multiple puncture wounds all around her face.

Police believe it could be part of a training system - for people to turn their dogs into 'athletes' - potentially for taking part in dog fights, or to be seen as a status symbol.

"they'll start them off at a very young age, training them to attack things like tyres, and hang on to tyres, build them up physically, so their muscles get a lot stronger, and then what they'll do is start to set the dogs onto other dogs, and live animals to encourage that attacking instinct".

But they tell us they don't have any statistics to prove that dogs are then being used as fighting dogs - because they believe it is a very closed community taking part in this sort of activity - and that it is kept hidden.

They've told Capital all their evidence comes from hearsay - but say they're very pleased to have found this dog and rescued her because it proves that activity like this IS taking place.

Zoe and team are keen to secure a loving home for the puppy, which is currently being looked after at kennels.

Alex Norris, Portfolio Holder for Community safety and Area working said: "Unfortunately incidents like these are not uncommon and we are really glad that we managed to save the dog on this occasion. We'd like to thank the member of public who bravely stepped in to rescue this dog before our officers arrived. Anyone who is worried about the treatment of a dog should report it to the anti-social behaviour helpline on 0115 9152020.

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