Man admits new dog fight charge

Beard admitted the charges at Walsall Magistrates' Court

A man has admitted training dogs to fight in the Black Country after being prosecuted using new legislation.

Clayton Beard, from Walsall, admitted four charges relating to dog fighting including a new charge of having items for use in training animals to fight.

It follows the discovery of three badly wounded pit bull terriers, a treadmill and veterinary kit at a Walsall house.

The RSPCA said it is the first time the legislation has been used. Beard will be sentenced next month.

He admitted possessing and causing unnecessary harm to pit bull terriers.

RSPCA officers found the treadmill and makeshift vet's kit

One of the dogs was found in a cage in a dining room. It had more than 70 wounds.

The RSPCA also found a makeshift veterinary kit, containing superglue used to stick the wounds together.

The RSPCA said dog fighting has been on the increase in the West Midlands in the past few years with dogs being smuggled into the UK from the continent and Ireland and then being bred.

"The Animal Welfare Act came into force at the start of April last year and that brings in a new offence of possessing for use an item adapted for the training of an animal to fight," RSPCA inspector Ian Briggs told BBC News.

"So the treadmill and all that fall squarely under that legislation so we are extremely pleased we have got this first prosecution."