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Tethered to a treadmill, hidden away in a concrete bunker, a tortured Staffordshire bull terrier is forced to run for his life – training to either kill or be killed in a brutal bloodsport.

The hideous set-up is part of a regime of abuse intended to bring the animal to his physical peak, a would-be champion of the illegal dog-fighting scene.

He is just one of thousands across Britain caught up in the horrific pursuit, outlawed for almost 200 years.

A Sunday Mirror probe has found 1,601 such fights were reported last year to the RSPCA, Britain’s leading animal charity.

But the organisation warns that is just a fraction of the true total – as the practice is going further underground.

(Image: RSPCA) (Image: RSPCA)

Dog-fighting rings are even turning to “burner” pay-as-you-go phones favoured by drug gangs to arrange secret meets.

Some organisers ban text communication to avoid leaving an evidence trail.

Spending cuts mean the charity can no longer afford to pay supergrasses who infiltrate the dog rings – making every conviction they do achieve a precious victory for investigators.

Last month John Knibbs, 55, was convicted of keeping and training dogs for fighting. He was raided after he breached a life ban on keeping animals.

Lincoln magistrates were told videos on Knibbs’ phone showed dogs being forced to fight, while text messages talked of the “crushing of bones”.

In some of the footage, two dogs could be seen ripping each other apart.

Another video showed one of his dogs on a treadmill, a choke around its neck and a whip being used as a “lure” to keep it running relentlessly onward.

Such treadmills are a common tool used to train fighting dogs – building both strength and stamina.

(Image: RSPCA)

Inspectors found one of Knibbs’ dogs had endured horrendous injuries in a fight that went on for 45 minutes.

Another, named Baddy, suffered severe puncture wounds fighting a much larger dog, the court was told.

RSPCA inspector Kirsty Withnall said: “Although we never found Baddy’s body, the pictures and text messages about the fight revealed there were severe puncture wounds to his head.”

Ms Withnall told the court Knibbs had been seeking out the largest and most aggressive animals in a bid to create “the ultimate fighting dog”.

Another breeder, Neil Forrest, was jailed last year for 24 weeks after caged fighting dogs were found in the back garden of his family’s £700,000 three-bed bungalow in Aspenden, Herts.

(Image: Steve Bainbridge)

He was busted after one of his bull terriers, a crossbreed named Kali, was found cowering in a neighbour’s garden in the quiet close.

The bruises and scars all over Kali’s body were a clear sign of her ordeal.

The RSPCA’s Cliff Harrison, who led that probe, said: “This poor dog was covered in wounds, both fresh and historic.

“She had bite marks, scratches and puncture wounds predominantly around her muzzle, ears and legs. These are exactly the sort of thing we see when dogs are forced to fight another dog.

“The vet agreed the injuries were consistent with dog fighting.”

The freshest wounds were just three or four days old.

(Image: Steve Bainbridge)

Mr Harrison added: “It’s clear Forrest is obsessed with dog fighting and involved in keeping, training and fighting his dogs.

“They have significant injuries consistent with dog fighting and have clearly been caused suffering.

“Aspenden is a sleepy village and Forrest’s home looks like any other.

“But behind closed doors, he was involved in this barbaric underworld, a secret he kept well hidden.”

Forrest called his garden Neil’s Yard. He fitted it out for dog training, with fighting dogs kept outside in cages, and a treadmill tucked away in an outhouse.

At Stevenage Magistrates’ Court last year, he admitted three counts of abuse, including keeping a dog for fighting.

(Image: RSPCA)

Yet when we confronted him back at home this week, he insisted he had done nothing wrong.

The jobless scaffolder claimed Kali had simply run off, blaming her injuries on her falling down a badger sett.

He claimed: “The RSPCA has a vendetta against me.”

As well as jail time, Forrest was banned from owning an animal for life.

But as our exclusive figures show, he is far from alone in his cruelty. In the past four years there have been 7,915 reports to the RSPCA of suspected dog fights.

The charity’s chief inspector, Mike Butcher, says fresh action is needed.

Mike, 67, said: “We’re still seeing rings, organised ones that are kept secret.

“You have champion pit bulls that are kept well away from anybody, they organise dog fights between them.” He said breeders use code names to evade detection while still being able to brag about their animals’ success in the ring.

The dogs are bred as trophy animals, kept as status dogs to intimidate others.

Mike said: “Organised fights are the Premier League of dog fighting.

“Then you’ve got the second tier, people go out and set the dog on cats and sheep.

“It’s an off-the-cuff attack, normally by four or five youths with one dog. These are impromptu fights – they’re not organised, but they’re on the increase.”

Mike has focused on tackling dog fights throughout his time at the RSPCA.

After he cracked an international ring early in his career, a contract was put on his life – by the IRA. The terror group had adopted the sport as a lucrative sideline to fund their activities.

(Image: RSPCA)

He has had his nose broken, and needed the protection of an East End gangster to evade a bid to trace a source who had tipped him off about a fight.

Mike said: “Sometimes I wish I’d chosen bird trapping instead.

“But it’s fascinating. It’s all about ego – it’s about my dog being better than your dog. It’s not going away.”

For at least one dog caught up in the brutality, there is a happy ending.

Forrest’s dog Kali was given a home by Georgina Arnold, 24, and boyfriend Owen Gray, 23, after an RSPCA appeal.

Georgina told us: “We took to her instantly. We love her so much, we couldn’t be without her.

“I couldn’t believe it when I found out the life she’d had before. It must have been so frightening. She has scars and is missing teeth, so she’s been through a lot.

“But she is so kind, like a teddy bear – there’s not a bad bone in her body.

“I’m just glad she’s safe now and she’ll never have to know fear or cruelty again.

“We’re really glad we found her. She’s going to be our only pet so she’ll get all the attention and love that she deserves.”

National Dogfighting Awareness Day is on April 8. To help the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit, visit rspca.org.uk/give

Danger signals

Clues to the hideous dogfighting underworld can include: