CONVICTED (2007) | Nasar Khan, born 13/03/1982, of 12 July Street, Blackburn BB1 1SR – turned a terraced house into a training centre for ‘fighting’ dogs
Khan pleaded guilty to eight charges of owning fighting dogs and one of allowing one of the dogs to be in a public place without a muzzle or lead.
Police found the nine illegal, unlicensed pit bull terriers chained up around a terraced property in July Street, Blackburn, after one escaped and began roaming the street.
The house, which was owned by Khan’s family, had been transformed into a pitbull training centre complete with a treadmill.
Isla Chilton, prosecuting, said: “Inside the house was a violent scene and there was blood splattered everywhere.
“There was no furniture and no lighting. It was just full of caged and chained dogs with a treadmill.
“There was a range of muscle-building tablets and powder found there.
“It is clear that these dogs had been trained to fight, a number of these dogs had relatively fresh scars on them. They are clearly not pets.
“The treadmill had a clip for the dogs’ collars which forced them to run, keeping them as fit as possible for fighting.
“These were not normal pit bulls. They were very aggressive and very dangerous.”
After police discovered the animals, which are banned under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, a dog warden was called and they were taken to a kennel, Ms Chilton said.
The court heard the dogs were so vicious that after they were seized one of them escaped from his cage in the back of the dog warden’s van and mauled another so badly he had to be put down. All nine dogs were later euthanised.
Aftab Bakhat, defending, said his client was not training the dogs for fighting, but was “fascinated” by them and wanted them to grow big and muscular. He added that Khan was an “extremely stupid man” and did not realise that what he was doing was illegal.
District Judge Peter Ward said: “It is clear that these dogs were being trained to bite and the potential danger to the public was significant.”
Judge Ward continued: “He may have been naive but it seems to me that these are dogs that have been prepared for fighting and have been involved in some fighting.”
The cost of kenneling the dogs reached over £15,000. This was met by the taxpayer after unemployed Khan was jailed.
After the case, RSPCA spokesman Sophie Corless said: “Sadly large numbers of pitbull types are still being kept for the wrong reasons – seen as macho status symbols for the purpose of organised dog fighting.
“Either way the dog’s welfare is unnecessarily put at great risk by their owners. It is a brutal crime.”
Sentencing: four months in jail. No ban.