Hull man gets life dog ban after 'despicable' videos on TikTok
He was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years
An East Yorkshire man who posted videos of his dogs hunting wildlife on TikTok has been banned from keeping dogs for life.
Billy Harry Scarah, Hull, was told by magistrates that his offences were “despicable”.
It is after RSPCA investigators were provided with digital evidence by animal welfare charity The Naturewatch Foundation, which showed one dog fighting a badger underground and another engaged with a fox.
Specialist officers reviewed the content posted on social media and used stills to compare the background in the videos to the surroundings at the addresses raided by police.
One of the dogs recovered - a bull lurcher called Buddy - had suffered severe injuries to his nose which were consistent with him fighting with a badger.
Scarah admitted two Animal Welfare Act offences of causing unnecessary suffering to Buddy by allowing him to fight another animal and failing to get veterinary treatment for his facial injuries.
The defendant also pleaded guilty to one offence under the the Protection of Badgers Act of interfering with a sett by causing a dog to enter.
"barbaric acts of cruelty"
At Hull Magistrates Court on April 10, he was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years for the Animal Welfare Act offences.
Scarah was also given a five-month term, suspended for two years for the Badger Act offence. Both were ordered to run concurrently.
When Scarah pleaded guilty he also agreed to sign Buddy over into RSPCA care so he could be rehomed.
Speaking after the court hearing, RSPCA Chief Inspector Ian Muttitt said: “Watching these videos glorifying and glamorising the brutal suffering of wild animals - and the dogs used to hunt them - is shocking.
"Sadly, this is something that can easily be found on many of the social media platforms today.
“But we’re proud to work closely with the police and other agencies, such as Naturewatch Foundation, to investigate these videos and bring the people to justice who are causing unnecessary suffering to animals, all in the name of TikTok views and Facebook likes.”
Humberside Police Rural Task Force Police Sergeant Kevin Jones said: “The persecution of badgers is a UK wildlife crime priority and a priority for the Humberside Police Rural Task Force.
"Not only does it involve barbaric acts of cruelty against badgers, but it also causes horrific injuries to the dogs involved, all of which trigger offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
“The criminals involved do not care about the suffering caused to the protected wildlife species nor their own dogs.
“This sentencing sends a strong message of our zero-tolerance response to badger crime and animal welfare offences."