Three teenagers from Burnley in Lancashire have pleaded guilty to animal cruelty offences after a joint Police/RSPCA investigation code named Operation Ratchet.

Ryan Hancock, 18, of Prestwich Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, a black and white cat called Gatsby, by encouraging a dog to attack the cat; causing unnecessary suffering to the same cat by failing to supress the attack; causing unnecessary suffering to a rabbit by causing it to be attacked by a dog; causing unnecessary suffering to two rabbits by causing them to be attacked by a dog; attempting to kill a badger; causing unnecessary suffering to a tan lurcher called Cassie by failing to provide veterinary treatment for injuries; attempting to kill a badger; possessing a live badger; wilfully killing a badger; and causing an animal fight to take place between two dogs and a badger. He was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison.

Marcus Leverett, 19, of Harold Avenue, Burnley, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a grey tabby cat by encouraging a dog to attack it which led to the cats death and causing unnecessary suffering to a lurcher dog called Storm by failing to provide veterinary treatment for its injuries.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 20 days Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and ordered to pay £1,000 costs and £128 victim surcharge.

A 16 year old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Gatsby, possessing a live badger, wilfully killing a badger and causing an animal fight to take place. He was made subject to a 12 months referral order and ordered to pay £500 costs and £22 victim surcharge.

All three were banned from owning, keeping, transporting or dealing in animals for 10 years. The dogs involved have been signed over to the care of the RSPCA.

The investigation started when a member of the public filmed an attack by a lurcher dog on Gatsby, a local family’s pet cat. Hancock and the youth were seen encouraging the attack as one of them filmed it on his mobile phone. The cat was rescued but subsequently died on the way to the vet. As a result of that incident phones were seized from all three defendants and they showed numerous incidents involving the dogs belonging to Hancock and Leverett.

In total 182 videos were found that showed a catalogue of horror including attacks by their dogs on domestic cats, badgers and rabbits. Some of the videos had been set to music and edited for use on video sharing site, TikTok.

It is difficult for most people to comprehend the levels of sadistic perversion that underlie acts such as these but sadly they are all too common. Animal cruelty offences involving attacks by trained dogs on wild and domestic animals are on the rise. Particularly worrying is the involvement of young people, usually males, in this activity. The cases that come to court and therefore public attention are sadly the small tip of a very large iceberg.

The U.K. is supposedly a country of animal lovers but in reality we have a very ambivalent relationship animals. Our wildlife tends to be classified into two groups, game, that we kill for fun and vermin, that we kill to protect game. While such attitudes exist in the ‘governing class’ it is hardly unsurprising to see them being taken up by impressionable youths on city estates.

The U.K. needs to acknowledge its problem in this regard before it can be tackled. We see little sign of that in national or regional government or statutory conservation organisations whose approach to wildlife persecution often looks like wilful blindness.

Full story with horrific video and pictures at Lancashire Telegraph website here.