Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
| Subscribe Now Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
|
 |
 |
|
Weather  Calendar Obituaries Classifieds Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Coupons Ad Center Gift Finder |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
Home News Sports
Free Time Life Money Nation/World Opinion Blogs/Columns Archives Site Map |
| Sports ExtraFriday, August 31, 2007 7:15 PM CDT |
 Comments (1) |  E-mail this page |  Print this page |  Enlarge type |  Reduce type |  Search archives |  RSS feeds |  Add to My Yahoo! |
Police: Gaelic soccer star in Ireland leader of dog-fighting club
DUBLIN, Ireland — A star of Ireland’s Gaelic soccer league was exposed Thursday as a director of an illegal dog-fighting club, an underground gambling activity that has wrecked the reputation and career of Atlanta Falcons football player Michael Vick. The 17-month undercover investigation by BBC Northern Ireland’s “Spotlight’’ program, being broadcast Thursday night, found evidence of 15 illegal dog-fighting operations in the British territory of 1.7 million. The program secretly filmed Gerard Cavlan, a 31-year-old member of the County Tyrone soccer team, discussing his ownership of more than a dozen dogs — and bragging about how one “hard-mouthed dog’’ gripped another in its jaws. “Sure he had him in the chest, and he shook him and he shook him for 25 minutes,’’ the BBC quoted Cavlan as saying. The program interviewed Cavlan after the Ulster Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals raided a County Armagh kennel and seized more than a dozen dogs, mostly pit bulls, that were bred for fighting. It identified Cavlan as co-owner of the raided facility, which was called Bulldog Sanctuary Kennels. “Spotlight,’’ the flagship investigations program for the BBC in Belfast, also secretly filmed a dog-fighting competition involving another illegal club called the Farmer Boys. It also tracked the source of some Northern Ireland pit bulls to a breeder in Finland identified as Robert Gonzales, who was secretly filmed describing how he falsely labeled pit bulls as mixed breeds to fool British customs officials. The Gaelic Athletic Association, which organizes Gaelic soccer in both parts of Ireland, permitted Cavlan to continue playing for Tyrone after he pleaded guilty in April to possession of a dangerous dog. At the time, Cavlan’s lawyer said his client had obtained the animal, named “Cannonball,’’ for a Dublin friend and didn’t realize the dog — which had several scars — was being abused in illegal fights. He was fined $1,300 and ordered not to keep terrier breeds. “Cannonball’’ was identified as having been brought to Dublin from Finland via Frankfurt, Germany. Three other dogs, Staffordshire terriers, found on Cavlan’s property at the time had disappeared when animal welfare officials tried to collect them the next day. The Gaelic Athletic Association and the County Tyrone team declined comment Thursday. Officials said they needed to see the program first. Attempts to contact Cavlan for comment were unsuccessful. Cavlan’s team won the Ireland championship in 2003. This year it lost in the quarter-finals of the annual competition among teams from each of the island’s 32 counties. Vick apologized this week after entering a guilty plea to a charge of dogfighting. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 10. and he could go to prison for one to five years. He has already been suspended indefinitely by the National Football League. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2009, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|
Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.
I hope wrote on Aug 31, 2007 12:28 PM:
Please read the rules before posting comments.
You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.