14th October 2025
This is the moment a pit bull was saved from a sickening undercover dog fighting ring by an undercover reporter investigating a UK-based animal abuse syndicate that filed graphic ‘match reports’ of fights to spectators across the world.
Two-year-old pitbull Ruby was bought from Zoltan Borbe, a kennel owner said to have connections to an animal abuse syndicate, who met the buyer in Amsterdam.
However, Borbe did not realise he was selling the animal to an undercover reporter who was investigating the UK-based circuit – which is illegal, and involves breeds that are banned in Britain.
BBC Northern Ireland’s latest Spotlight investigation, Dog Fighting: Exposed, sees reporter Patrick Fee pose as a dog fighter in order to expose the evil perpetrators and their twisted network.
His probe, broadcast on BBC Two tonight, saw him win the trust of some of the most notorious dog fighters and breeders.
Vets and animal rights activists have reacted with horror to an online forum in which dog fights were reported in graphic detail – the existence of which enabled the reporter to begin exposing its inner workings.
And at a key point in the investigation, he waits six hours in Amsterdam for dog breeder Borbe, who drove from Germany and bragged about how the dog had recently fought a larger dog and won.
Patrick paid him 700 Euros for the dog and was given doctored documents which had her falsely listed as a Bloodhound – a legal breed – in order to get her through customs without detection.
When the BBC team finally had the dog in their possession, Patrick put her in their van, named her Ruby, and told the traumatised pooch: ‘No more fighting for you.’
Ruby was taken to a specialist animal shelter in Amsterdam where she was assessed by a vet who found her to be underweight and covered in scars from her fights.
The former two-time champion in the pit was visibly docile around humans, but as soon as she heard the barks of other dogs at the shelter, she became ‘tense’.
Patrick earlier explained how scarring is easy to spot on dogs with dark fur because the hair grows back white.
He said: ‘I just can’t get over how different she became as soon as the other dogs were around, as soon as the barking started, she was just tense.
‘The sweetness and affection was gone, she was just tense. Like a totally different dog.’
The shelter worker explained how they have had to euthanize former fighting dogs who were unable to shake the violence that had been instilled in them since birth by their abusers.
They have to observe the dogs and put them through a series of tests to see if they can be rehabilitated or not.
Thankfully, Ruby was already showing signs that she could be reformed and potentially adopted out to a loving family – but for now she remains under the attentive care of the shelter.
Zoltan Borbe later denied involvement in dog fighting, telling the BBC he made up the story to sell dogs.
During his time in the forums, Patrick came across dog fighters sharing disturbing match reports, distressing training videos, DIY veterinary tips, full videos of brutal fights and pictures of injuries – some of which were too graphic to be shown.
Part of one match report read: ‘She’s in the chest and front legs. [Fighting dog] Maggie bleeding heavy for a short while.’
Another said: ‘Jose has a deep grip on the neck and is working it, never lets go.’
A third read: ‘Opens up a decent hole in Brock’s face causing plenty of blood.’
Patrick also spoke to Janette Reever, an investigator for Humane World for Animals who is responsible for tracking down dog fighting rings in the US, who detailed the heartbreaking reality of how pit bulls’ loyalty to their owners is exploited.
She said: ‘Unfortunately, American Pit Bull Terriers are exploited because they do everything they can for their person.
‘So, they will be literally dying, they’re bleeding out, in horrible condition, and they’ll hear their person cheering them on and giving them encouragement, and you’ll see the dog wag their tail and continue to fight.
‘Those really break my heart, seeing those dogs.’
Digging deeper, Patrick managed to unpick the Kingpin believed to be behind one of the most significant dog fighters in Europe who have been operating for years – Boneyard Kennels.
The BBC identified the man behind Boneyard Kennels as David Patterson, a mixed-martial arts coach from County Antrim.
Using pictures and videos posted to their social media pages, the team managed to trace around 40 fighting pit bulls to Boneyard Kennels.
They matched several of the pre-fight training videos to a walled garden deep inside the Shane’s Castle estate in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Patterson denied participating in dog fighting and said he is not a member of any international dog fighting network.
He claimed he often looks after dogs for other people and is interested in human and animal fitness.
They also found evidence suggesting that an associate of Patterson’s, Craig Kitson, was a member of the dog fighting network – operating under the alias ‘Spongebob’.
‘Spongebob’ was listed as a referee in several dog fighting match reports, and as a handler of Boneyard Kennels’ dogs.
Kitson previously sparked outrage when he made headlines for a graphic video in which he could be seen holding the corpse of a dog in a headlock with tape wrapped around its muzzle.
The video was captioned: ‘This is what happens when you bite my wain [child]’.
He then bit the dog’s ear, suggesting this was punishment for the dog having bitten his child.
Craig Kitson told the BBC he was not actively participating in dog fighting and claimed he is not the person identified as Spongebob.
He expressed deep contrition over the video in which he bit the dog’s corpse, claiming he had not been responsible for its death.
Reacting to the investigation, the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said it was a ‘powerful wake-up call’ to dog fighting, which it called a ‘illegal, barbaric blood sport driven by cruelty, greed and perverse pleasure’.
- Spotlight: Dog Fighting Exposed is on BBC Two tonight (14th October 2025) at 9pm, and can be watched on-demand on iPlayer.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15187721/pitbull-saved-undercover-dog-fighting-ring.html
LOCK THESE BASTRADS UP FOR A VERY LONG TIME. IF THEY DO NOT BELONG IN THIS CIOUYNTRY THEM CHUCK THEM OUT WE NEED VERY VERY STRONG LAWS RE DOG FIGHTS HUNTING SHOOTIUNG HARE COURSING ETC ETC. SCUM CAUGHT DOING ANY OF THIS SHOULD BE MADE TO DO HARD LABOUR, WE SHOULD GO BACK TO THE OLD DAYS WHEN SCUM GOT PROPER PUNISHMENT NOT LIKE NOW THE LAWS IS CRAP ON MOST THINGS AND NEEDS CHANGING NOW.
Utterly, utterly disgusting. Yes, I totally agree with the previous comment, absolutely. These totally vile bastards need to be chucked into jail for the rest of their lives and made to work so hard they drop. The laws are not strong enough and too often perpetrators of such vile abuse of innocent animals are just given a slapped wrist or a fine…not good enough. Time the laws were made much, much stronger. Yes, and check out their wives and girlfriends as no way are they not aware of what their men are up to, so they should be made to pay the price of vile behaviour too. Take all their money and property from them, make them pay the ultimate price for keeping their stupid mouths quiet.