Asif Ali, 33, and Sohail Hussain, 46, were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to training and forcing animals to fight
Two men have been jailed for organising brutal dog fights described by a judge as acts of “almost indescribable cruelty”.
Asif Ali, 33, of Ash Road, Alum Rock, and Sohail Hussain, 46, of Brades Rise, Oldbury, were behind separate kennel brands that trained and fought dogs in contests lasting hours, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Ali was involved in the ‘On Smoke Kennels’ (OSK) brand, using a basement in Ash Ford to train and pit bull breeds against each other, the court heard. He hosted contests and promoted events through the OSK brand. One of his dogs, Roxy, was even killed after a fight.
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Hussain operated under the ‘UK Gladiators’ brand, sourcing dogs from the UK and abroad for fights. He also ran a subscription website, ‘Team Gladiatorz’, which published fight reports and advertised dogs, Birmingham Live reported.
Both men admitted keeping or training an animal for fighting, causing an animal to fight and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. Ali also pleaded guilty to possessing equipment used in an animal fight.
On Monday, Ali was jailed for 17 months and Hussain for 21 months. Both were banned from keeping animals for life.
Scales, a treadmill and harness were found inside the Ash Road basement, along with an area for holding fights, some of which were recorded on video. He kept four fighting dogs between October 2022 and September 2023, three of which suffered injuries.
Hussain provided dogs for fights at Ash Road, organised events and discussed breeding and selling “killer dogs”, as well as expanding operations into Europe.
Two of the rescued dogs had extensive scarring and puncture wounds to their head, legs and chests.
Judge Paul Farrer KC, passing sentence, said: “All of these offences arise out of your activities in connection with organising dog fighting on a significant scale.
“This is an activity of almost indescribable cruelty in which dogs are trained to keep fighting regardless of how injured they become.
“The evidence demonstrates that fights can last hours as opposed to minutes, and many dogs do not survive a fight or survive but die afterwards.
“If a dog does survive, it will almost inevitably be injured but cannot be taken to a vet because of the tell-tale nature of its injuries.”
He added: “Those who engage in dog fighting do so because they derive a warped sense of enjoyment from the spectacle, because they seek to make money from gambling and because they revel in the kudos they garner amongst their peer group. This applies in each of your cases.”
In mitigation, the court heard Ali is a father-of-one who helps care for his mother.
Hussain, who has a prior conviction for attending a dogfight in 2006, is wheelchair-bound having suffered a spinal injury after being shot over 15 years ago.