Pair who made dogs fight to death

Sep 4 2007 By Emma Cullwick, Birmingham Mail

PICTURED are the two men who goaded their dogs into a bloody "fight to the death" in front of scores of spectators in the back room of a Birmingham shop.

In one of the largest dog fights to ever have been uncovered in Britain, police swooped on a kitchen interiors store in Alum Rock Road in February last year, Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard yesterday.

Zahoor Hussain, 40, of Foley Road, Ward End, last December pleaded guilty to illegally owning a pit bull terrier, making it fight other animals, attending a dog fight and causing the unnecessary suffering of a dog.

Waqqas Mughal, 18, of Unett Street, Smethwick, who had previously denied the same four charges, yesterday changed his pleas to guilty.

A third defendant, Intikab Hussain, 31, of Sladefield Road, Ward End, denies the same four charges. Prosecutors allege he was caught on camera "refereeing" the dog fight.

A fourth man, Barkat Hussain, 42, of Unett Street, Smethwick, has also denied illegally owning a pit bull terrier, making it fight other animals, attending a dog fight and causing the unnecessary suffering of a dog.

Mughal smirked as the court was shown video footage of the horrific dog fight, in which he and Zahoor Hussain could be seen shouting and clapping, encouraging their dogs to fight each other.

The dogs squealed in pain as Mughal and Zahoor Hussain shouted phrases such as "shake him" and "come on boy" to encourage the animals to bite chunks of flesh off of each other.

Police swooped on the scene after neighbours reported hearing disturbing noises coming from the building.

Officers found the two dogs lying in pools of their own blood. One of them had been stuffed in a cupboard.

RSPCA vets carried out emergency surgery in a bid to save the dogs but they both died soon afterwards.

Nick Sutton, prosecuting, said: "It was a very intensive fight. It was a fight to the death."

He said the fight was well organised with some spectators coming from Preston, Manchester and Luton.

"They travelled across the country to sit in a kitchen sales room on a Sunday evening, where there's no alcohol - if it was a party it wasn't a particularly good one."

(Proceeding)