A dog-owner has been jailed for ten months after setting his terriers on badgers and foxes, filming the attacks and posting the footage online.
Mason James Paines of Barry, in the Vale of Glamorgan, admitted 12 offences of deliberately injuring or persecuting protected wildlife.
The RSPCA prosecution was mounted after an investigation by the charity’s Special Operations Unit, following evidence from the Naturewatch Foundation.
Judge Lucy Crowther said at Cardiff Crown Court that Paines’ posting of the clips to TikTok, Instagram and Facebook were an aggravating feature of the case.
After sentencing, a spokesperson for the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit, said: “We are very grateful for the Naturewatch Foundation bringing this to our attention and for their support building a case to get justice for the wild animals involved in these horrific attacks.
“This case sends a powerful message that illegal persecution of wildlife will not be tolerated, both for the sake of the wild animals targeted and the dogs put at risk in the process.”
The graphic films showed dogs attacking badgers and foxes – including one where a man can be heard encouraging the bloodshed and several with badgers screaming.
One social media photograph showed a terrier with a bloodied muzzle alongside Mason’s comment: “He loves his jam this one.”
Evidence to the court from the Naturewatch Foundation said Paines posted online which suggested he “regularly uses his dogs to attack and kill badgers and foxes”.
An Instagram account entitled “Terriers days & nights out” and Facebook and TikTok posts exhibited “horrific cruelty to wild mammals and dogs alike”.
TikTok Footage from November 2023 showed “three dogs baiting a badger”, “two dogs tearing at a badger” and two dogs “killing a fox”.
In further clips, two dogs are seen killing a fox during the day and another has been “lamped” – or chased down and attacked at night.
The Naturewatch Foundation statement adds: “There is sufficient reason to believe that numerous offences have been committed by Paines over a sustained period of time.”
The court heard that Paine claimed to have filmed three attacks out of shock but did not try to stop the dogs.
The adult dogs recovered – females named Fern and Doris – were taken to the RSPCA’s Merthyr Tydfil clinic for medical checks.
The court heard that ten clips of dogs attacking badgers were recovered from an iPhone seized from Paines. On one, a man’s voice is heard “encouraging” the dogs and in several, a badger is “screaming”.
Another shows dogs attacking a fox and another captures three men digging up a badger sett. There are also snaps of the dogs with bloodied or injured faces.
In mitigation, it was said that Paines had been provided with a number of good character references.
Paines admitted five charges of wilfully injuring a badger in breach of the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and one of hunting a rat with dogs, contrary to the Hunting Act 2004.
He also pleaded guilty to five counts of causing a dog to fight with a fox for baiting, and one of causing a dog to fight a badger for baiting, in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
The judge imposed two separate ten-month jail terms and one two-month term, all to be served concurrently. He was also banned from keeping dogs for ten years.
