Investigating and prosecuting animal cruelty

Organised animal cruelty

Criminal gangs are exploiting animals for profit, causing deliberate and brutal cruelty. The RSPCA is tackling all types of organised animal crime, including puppy farming, dog and cock fighting, badger baiting and wildlife persecution. We want to see an end to this shocking suffering. Learn how we investigate organised animal cruelty on this page.

RSPCA staff member comforting a rescued dog during its recovery.

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Types of organised animal
cruelty crimes

We’ve been fighting bloodsports for 200 years, but sadly activities like cock fighting and dog fighting are still around. Rural crimes like badger baiting, lamping and bird trapping also cause huge suffering to animals. Hunting with dogs continues, despite being banned in 2004, and large scale puppy farming puts profit over welfare, causing pain to animals and owners.

We want to see an end to all of these brutal crimes.

Find out more about what to look out for if you suspect organised animal crimes and what we’re doing to tackle these by exploring the links below.

RSPCA staff member comforting and embracing a rescued dog at an animal rescue centre.

Animal fighting

Fighting rings force dogs and cocks to fight, causing the animals immense fear, serious injury and even death. Find out how we combat it.
Small wild bird being gently held by a person during wildlife monitoring.

Wildlife crime

With the police and partners, we investigate illegal gang activities that use dogs to take deer, foxes and badgers. Learn how we get justice for animals.
Black puppy sitting alone among shredded paper and debris in poor conditions.

Puppy farming

We’ve investigated thousands of reports of illegal breeding, intercepting puppy dealing rings that make millions of pounds from dogs’ suffering. Find out more.

Suspect animal cruelty?

Call us in confidence on 0300 123 8960 or report it to the police.

RSPCA inspector using a mobile phone inside a response vehicle during an investigation.

How we investigate organised animal cruelty

We investigate organised criminal gangs causing animal cruelty through our Special Operations Unit (SOU). Established in 1977, the SOU investigates serious criminal activity which exploits animals with deliberate, brutal cruelty.

The team includes uniformed inspectors and covert officers. They work closely with our intelligence team, which carries out research, gathers evidence and analyses animal cruelty that often comes to light online or via social media channels.

Officers in the unit have years of expertise and work proactively to root out and expose serious and organised criminal activity against animals. This specialist expertise allows them to identify evidence such as dog fighting paraphernalia or tampered leg rings on native birds, which helps build evidence of criminal activity.

The team gathers evidence over a long period, before putting together a case file and submitting it to our prosecution team, who then decide whether to take a prosecution.

The team have rescued hundreds of animals from lives of suffering and brought criminals from cock fighting gangs, puppy farming rings and badger baiters to justice.

safe from harm

We've saved thousands of animals from suffering

We've seen many happy endings after animals have been saved from the deliberate cruelty of organised crime.