Dog fighting goes online

Over the weekend police in San Pablo City, Philippines arrested seven South Koreans and rescued up to 300 dogs – many of them badly hurt – that had been forced to fight in a ‘live dealer’ version of the cruel sport.

The Koreans are alleged to have run an online gambling enterprise, video-streaming the fights over the internet to punters.

Four Filipino caretakers were also taken in for questioning after police raided a two-hectare farm in the city, just south of the capital Manila, Chief Inspector Renante Galang told reporters.

“This was a major online gambling syndicate in which they cruelly pitted the dogs against each other, sometimes to the death,” he said.

C/I Galang said two of those arrested Friday had also been held in December after police busted a similar operation in a nearby province, when 240 dogs were rescued. The men had been released after posting bail.

Animal cruelty activists urged the government to overhaul animal rights law that allows suspects to post bail of about $100 and go free while their cases move through the country’s notoriously slow court system.

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