The lucrative trade in 'designer bulldogs' has been linked to organised crime - and one major drug dealer even managed to continue his business from behind bars, a new documentary has revealed.
Thomas Rayment, from Warrington, was handed a six-year jail sentence in 2021 for leading a gang behind a cocaine and heroin supply racket.
A new BBC Panorama documentary 'Dogs, Dealers and Organised Crime' has exposed the links between organised crime and the trade in bulldog puppies, sometimes bred to create 'exaggerated characteristics'. It alleged Rayment was able to continue the trade even though he was in jail.
A Facebook account in the name of Thomas Rayment offered to sell dogs even though he remains behind bars. He was said to be behind the UK arm of a notable dog trading business.
A BBC reporter posing as a potential buyer messaged the account and arranged to visit the company's 'fertility clinic' in Wigan, where Rayment's business partner admitted the messages had come from Rayment from behind bars.
Rayment was jailed in February 2021 for six years for leading a gang which was behind the supply of heroin and cocaine with a street value of £140,000. Rayment, of Brookvale Close, Warrington pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
An animal welfare investigator told the programme: "It's a massively lucrative trade. A multitude of breeders throughout the UK that are linked... The big breeders, the majority of them are criminals, drug dealers, organised crime gangs who are driving the market. It's exactly the same business model as selling drugs but we're talking about dogs."
In the same documentary, the mum of a schoolboy mauled to death by an American XL Bully dog describes how she is still haunted by the image of her son's injuries.
Jack Lis, aged ten, was killed by the dog - named Beast - while visiting a friend's house in November 2021. Police were forced to shoot dead the pet after arriving at the scene in Penyrheol in Caerphilly, Wales, and owners Brandon Hayden and Amy Salter were later jailed.
Jack's heartbroken mum Emma Whitfield said the dog attacked her son's face and neck. She said when a paramedic brought out a blanket, suddenly she realised he wasn't going to make it.
But Emma added she tries to remember him going out earlier that day "with his skateboard in his hands" rather than the horror of his final moments.
She told Panorama: "They kept saying that they were working on him, they’re working on him. And then the paramedic walked away and came back with a blanket and I knew. I can’t say out loud what else I saw because I don’t want other people to have to picture it either."
She then added: “Every time I shut my eyes I try to tell myself: 'That’s not the last image that I’ve got of him'. I try and tell myself it was when he shut the door with his skateboard in his hands."
READ NEXT:
- The tragedy of an 'adored' dad-of-three, 29, killed in tram crash
- Mum left with bald patches after 'drunk woman' hurled abuse and ripped out her hair in attack that halted Lewis Capaldi gig
- 'Selfish' parents caught parking across driveways near primary school
- The hilltop trail in Greater Manchester with stunning views on a clear winter’s day
- Perverted loner who took hundreds of pictures of women's bottoms is now behind bars
