Police in the English town of Dagenham in the county of Essex announced on Monday that they are on the lookout for a man who violated the terms of his parole. According to the MailOnline, the man, 48-year-old Tony Barbara, is dangerous, though the threat he poses is to dogs.
Last year, Barbara was found guilty of training dogs to fight and of inhumanely using a “flesh stapler” to close their wounds without regard for the pain it caused them. He was given a 24-week suspended jail sentence and banned from keeping dogs for ten years after the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals provided evidence to the Romford Magistrates' Court that Barbara had brutalized several dogs.
In preparing their case, authorities searched Barbara’s home in Dagenham, where they found the stapler — a do-it-yourself method of treating wounds — and a 'flirt pole', a long stick with bait attached to improve dogs' “combat skills,” include chasing and biting. Forensic tests showed the stapler had canine DNA on it.
At his hearing Barbara was also found guilty of failing to seek appropriate treatment for a pitbull he owned named Elaine. The dog had suffered a “training” injury and had developed conjunctivitis.
The sentence might have been harsher, but the district judge said there was no way of proving whether the fights Barbara orchestrated had happened within the jurisdiction of England and Wales.
Police have not revealed whether they have clues to Barbara’s whereabouts.
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