CONVICTED (2008) | dog-fighting ring member Daniel Tate, born 6 December 1987, previously of Cresswell Road, Grangetown, Middlesbrough but at the time of conviction of George Street, Redcar TS10 2BN – set his illegal pit bull terrier on a smaller dog in a vicious “training session”.
Twisted Daniel Tate, also a registered sex offender, was sentenced to five months at a young offenders’ institution and banned from keeping animals for ten years after he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a dog and owning a banned animal.
Mobile phone footage of the fight was handed to Cleveland Police, who asked the RSPCA to investigate the case.
The court heard that Tate’s pit bull terrier-type dog, Chico, was filmed fighting a Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog that RSPCA inspectors believe had been stolen for the illegal confrontation.
John Ellwood, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Tate had helped set up the fight between his pit bull Chico and a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in an alley at the back of King Street, South Bank, on January 7, 2007.
He said: “This case is presented on the basis that this was an arranged training session for the pit bull to teach it that it can fight and win.
“It’s fairly obvious there can only be one winner in this fight and that was the case. The pit bull quite quickly got the better of the Staffordshire.”
The short film showed the dogs being baited and encouraged to fight, with Tate’s dog viciously attacking the other animal.
Despite the efforts to trace the Staffordshire bull terrier the inspectors were unable to trace the attacked dog and have not been able to determine whether the animal was seriously injured or even killed.
Mr Ellwood said an onlooker to the baiting session had recorded the fight on a mobile phone and had forwarded the images to other people. One of those people had taken it to the police and officers recognised both Tate and his pit bull as being from the Grangetown area, the court heard yesterday.
Mr Ellwood said officers raided Tate’s former home in Cresswell Road where they found him hiding in a bathroom cupboard.
When a vet examined the pit bull in April 2007 – months after the fight was caught on camera – fresh wounds consistent with another fighting dog were found, said Mr Ellwood.
Tate pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal by causing it to fight and being in possession of an illegal dog.
He also admitted failure to comply with his notification requirements as a registered sex offender after he received an 18 month community order for a conviction in March, 2007.
Inspector Alan Fisher, of the RSPCA’s special operations Unit, investigated the dog fight.
Speaking after the hearing, he said: “I’m very pleased the court viewed this matter so seriously and passed their sentence accordingly.
“Dog-fighting is an appalling and cruel practice.
“Animals are forced together in artificial circumstances and caused pain and suffering.
“The RSPCA will continue its efforts to stamp out this vile practice, and assistance from the public in reporting these matters is gratefully appreciated and welcome.”
The video footage led to Cleveland Police and the RSPCA carrying out a crackdown on illegal fighting dogs in the east Cleveland area, which saw seven suspected members of a dog-fighting ring arrested in March 2007.
The raids, which were the culmination of a ten-month surveillance operation, saw four heavily- built pit bull terrier-type dogs led into restraint cages by RSPCA officers.
Operation Bale is believed to have smashed a gang suspected of using dangerous dogs for social status and organising spectator battles in alley-gated arenas near homes.
Sentencing: Five months at a young offenders’ institution. Banned from keeping animals for ten years (expired 2018).
Additional Information
In May 2008 one of Tate’s accomplices, James Harland aka Jimbo Foster, a traveller from South Bank, Middlesbrough, was jailed for six months for his part in the baiting incident.
Harland was also disqualified from owning animals for ten years after pleading guilty to procuring a dog fight.
In 2016 morbidly obese Harland died in his sleep at the age of 29. He was described by his fellow travellers as a “loveable rogue” with “a heart of gold”.
That Mentally Disturbed Young Man, Pictured with a Toddler.
He is not safe around that young child. Lets hope Social Services kept a close eye on that child. He won’t have no luck for what he has done, Just Like His Accomplice Got.