GAA star Cavlan 'involved in dog-fighting ring'

A top Gaelic footballer’s future career was in doubt today after he was exposed as being heavily involved in an illegal international dog-fighting ring.

Gerard Cavlan, 30, a member of Tyrone’s 2003 All-Ireland Championship-winning side, helped run an operation in which pit bull terriers were brutally pitched against each other, an undercover investigation has revealed.

During secret filming he boasted about the animals’ strength and skill in a fight and claimed to have up to 15 dogs.

Cavlan reportedly said of a dog: “Sure he had him in the chest, and he shook him and he shook him for 25 minutes…If he hadn’t got you killed in half an hour… he was in trouble, you know. A real hard-mouthed dog.”

The revelations appear to have shattered Cavlan’s claims earlier this year that he was not involved in the savage sport.

Even though he was fined £650 (€960) after pleading guilty to possession of a dangerous dog, his lawyer denied the GAA star had any links to illegal activities.

Cavlan had simply collected the dog from kennels for a man from Dublin, Dungannon Magistrates’ Court was told.

But a BBC Northern Ireland Spotlight investigation says that Cavlan is actually the joint owner of a dog-fighting operation known as The Bulldog Sanctuary Kennels.

The investigation also uncovered a trail to Finland where breeders prepare animals from as young as 10 months to be exported to the North.

One breeder reportedly said: “I’ve imported a lot of dogs so I know how to fool, fool the Customs… all you need is a computer and a printer.”

The investigation discovered 15 illegal dog-fighting gangs in the North - five in Belfast and some with connections to international organisations.

One gang, The Farmer Boys, was infiltrated and found to be involved in fighting matches across Northern Ireland and abroad.

The USPCA is understood to be preparing to act on the revelations once the Spotlight programme is screened tonight.

Cavlan’s future now looks bleak. He was in the Tyrone team that lost to Meath in the quarter-finals of this year’s All-Ireland Championships.

But earlier this year a magistrate warned him that he must remember his position as a role model.

Fining him, Eamon King said: “We want people to imitate you in all that’s good - ie, your successful football career - not in the type of activity that takes place in backyards in the dark of night involving one animal going face-to-face against another.”