A dog left covered in scars after being trained to fight is loving life again after being rescued.
Eight-year-old bull terrier Jane was one of 19 dogs seized in the RSPCA’s Operation Ghoul, to intercept Phillip Ali’s dog fighting ring.
Investigators raided the home of twisted Billy and Amy Leadley who made a death pit in their garage where the blood of five different dogs was splattered across the walls. A video of the raid showed the terrified dogs crying and trying to escape. Vets had no choice but to put four to sleep.
The rest went into rehab and Jane was fostered by her new owner, Debbie, who is adopting her full time. She said: “Jane’s doing brilliantly and settled in so well. Her behaviour is fantastic – she loves walks.”
Jane now has a bright future
Phillip Ali outside Chelmsford Crown Court (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)Today Ali - who led the international dog fighting ring and dubbed himself “Doctor Death” - has been jailed. The 67-year-old used the sickening moniker as he trained his dogs for blood-thirsty battles inside his co-defendants’ home, earning up to £5,000 for a win.
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The court was told how animals suffered serious injuries, including broken legs, and endured brutal training regimes.
Earlier this year the Mirror exposed the mob, who ran fights in the UK, Ireland and France. Several of these were hosted by a married couple who had a fighting pit in their garage.
Billy Leadley, 38, ran and refereed fights while keeping injured dogs caged in filthy conditions at the house he and wife Amy, 39, shared with their young sons in Takeley, Essex.
Although the court heard that Amy did not attend fights, Judge Jamie Sawyer said he found it “impossible” that she would not have known about them.
During the trial, prosecuting solicitor Hazel Stevens told the court that the garage contained a 12ft x 8ft carpeted “pit”. She said: “There were what appeared to be blood splatters on the walls. Samples were analysed and found to have come from at least five different dogs.”
Ali led the UK arm of the operation from his home in Chigwell, organising fights with his overseas counterparts.
Ali told his “medicine man” Stephen Brown, 57, also from Chigwell, to pump the animals with steroids, painkillers and chemical stomach liners.
All four defendants continued to deny any wrongdoing yesterday despite being found guilty by a jury in April.
Sentencing them at Chelmsford crown court Judge Sawyer said the gang showed “a shocking level of barbarism and callousness” towards the dogs.
He said: “They were effectively starved and put through a training regime, like fighters preparing for a boxing match.”
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Ali was jailed for five years Billy Leadley for four years and Brown for three years and six months. Spared jail because of her sons, Amy Leadley was given a community order with 200 hours unpaid work. All four were disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years.
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