More brutality against animals to report on from across the pond, where the BBC has uncovered a star of Ireland's Gaelic football league who was found to be the director of an illegal dog-fighting club, a similar illegal gambling activity that has destroyed the reputation and career of Atlanta Falcons football player Michael Vick.
The AP reports that the 17-month undercover investigation by BBC Northern Ireland's "Spotlight" program found evidence of 15 illegal dog-fighting operations in the British territory of 1.7 million people.
BBC producers secretly filmed Gerard Cavlan, a 31-year-old member of the County Tyrone Gaelic football team, talking about his owning a dozen dogs, even bragging about how one "hard-mouthed dog" gripped another in its jaws.
"Sure he had him in the chest, and he shook him and he shook him for 25 minutes," Cavlan said during a conversation filmed covertly in his vehicle, reports the AP.
Much like the American "Dateline" or "20/20," the BBC program sends an undercover reporter from England who convinced the organizers of two dog-fighting clubs in Northern Ireland and two breeders of American pit bulls in Finland who supplied dogs to Cavlan and other Northern Ireland-based dog fighters.
All were secretly filmed tslking of how they evaded detection by authorities.
The AP reports that the two Finland-based breeders, Robert Gonzales and Paul Dunkel, were confronted by the BBC crew with evidence of their dealings before they were arrested.
Cavlan was caught on tape boasting of co-founding a dog-fighting club called Bulldog Sanctuary Kennels.
The BBC program described his business partner as "Dee," a Protestant extremist and drug dealer to boot.
"Spotlight," is described as "the flagship investigations program for the BBC in Belfast."
The producers also secretly filmed a dog-fighting competition in Finland involving Gonzales and Tom Bell, an organizer of another Northern Ireland dog-fighting club called the Farmers Boys.
The AP reports Gonzales "was recorded getting down on hands and knees in front of two 50-pound dogs and egging on his dog to kill the other."
The AP reports that the Gaelic Athletic Association "permitted Cavlan to continue playing for Tyrone after the Ulster Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raided a kennel and seized more than a dozen dogs, mostly pit bulls, that were bred for fighting."
Cavlan was fingered as the co-owner of the raided facility and he pleaded guilty in April to possession of a dangerous dog.
Cavlan's lawyer said his client had picked up the animal Cannon Ball for a Dublin friend and didn't realize the dog—which had several scars—was being abused in illegal fights. He was fined $1,300 and ordered not to keep terrier breeds, according to the AP.
The football association and the County Tyrone team declined comment Thursday. Officials said they needed to see the program first. The AP's attempts to contact Cavlan for any comment were unsuccessful.
Donna DSep 1st, 2007 - 01:35:23
I'm afraid your headline is rather inappropriate here. You have referred to an Irish soccer player...Gerard Cavlan plays Gaelic football, not soccer. These sports are very different indeed.
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