tonight — inside the world of extreme dog breeders. bulldogs of all shapes and sizes are loved by celebrities and the public alike. now, unscrupulous dealers are cashing in. this is a business that's purely driven by profit, not taking into account the welfare of the dogs. we go undercover to expose animal cruelty... who thinks, "i know — "let's breed a dog whose legs are round the wrong way"? who does that? ..we reveal the links to organised crime... the big breeders, the majority of them are criminals, drug dealers, organised crime gangs, who are driving the market. ..and the devastating impact of the trade in extreme dogs.

every time i shut my eyes... ..i try and tell myself. that's not the last image that i've got of him. right, i think it's in here. yeah, here we are. hope rescue. hello. hi. i'm sam from the bbc. i'm here for vanessa. this rescue centre in wales is at the sharp end of the dog trade, caring for abused and abandoned dogs. dogs like keanu, an american bully... oh, my goodness! ..one of the new extreme mixed—breed bulldogs becoming more and more popular. it's as though his legs are on back to front. who thinks, "i know — "let's breed a dog whose legs are round the wrong way"?

who does that? there are no surgical options for him. the vets have said, "there's nothing we can do about that." how old is he? he's eight months old. he's only eight months? butjust look how big he is. look how thickset he is. this is torture. you know what these dogs are going to look like, but you're still breeding them, trying to get more and more exaggerated features. i mean, it looks painful when he's bent over like that. 0h! we're seeing this every single week. this is day—to—day life for us here at the rescue now. then there's alvin, also an american bully. like keanu, he's a victim of extreme breeding, where dogs are deliberately bred to create exaggerated characteristics. he actually came in as a stray. highly likely he was deliberately abandoned, though, due to his health issues. alvin's ears have been cropped and he's got skin missing from his front paws. so, he's scuffed and bleeding

because he just is unable to have that strength to walk? he can't hold... he can't hold his legs. the sheer weight of these dogs, the muscle tone... oh, look at that! i know. you poor thing! oh, you can see his leg. yeah. his leg just totally twists around. and, again, bad breeding. it's the only reason for it. in the last 12 months, ten dogs have been in such poor condition due to extreme breeding that hope rescue have had to put them to sleep. robin! that's it. good boy. the breeders don't care. they're not the ones that are seeing the heartache. these dogs aren't going to see past their second birthdays. some of them, including my own foster dog, was put to sleep at six months old. now, i didn't get into rescue to have to euthanise six—month—old puppies. that's not why i got into animal welfare. i can't tell you how hard... i'm going to cry now. i can't tell you how heartbreaking that is for us. gosh, it...

bulldog breeds have become some of the most sought after in the uk, whether it's the petite french bulldog, with 5a,000 new puppies registered in 2021, the flat—faced english bulldog, with more than 15,000 registered... ..or the bigger american bully, a modern crossbreed. and now, unscrupulous dealers are cashing in. this is karl and victoria shellard. their business, posherbulls, sold english bulldogs with extreme features. their dogs advertised on social media for up to £20,000. two years ago, business was booming for the shellards. then they caught the eye of the authorities. first of all, we checked to see

whether or not they were registered, which they weren't. but social media and adverts suggested that they were breeding in quite a big way. they were selling to asia. they were selling to the far east. they were selling to america. they were selling all over. when investigators raided posherbulls, they found a huge operation — kennel after kennel in the back garden, boxes in the kitchen for the dogs to give birth in, even a fertility clinic. it's a laboratory — a purpose—built laboratory — with a centrifuge, with units to enable him to do the stud work and the artificial insemination, just a walk away from the house to do your business with the dog, probably on a milking stool, and then back down for tea. there were 27 dogs on site.

the shellards were also creating their own signature english bulldog with extreme features. the type of dog that they were developing had big rope necks and rolls of fur and looked a really cuddly type of dog, but these dogs were desperately unhealthy. they had respiratory problems and, in a number of cases, weren't fit to be bred from. the shellards were convicted of animal welfare offences in 2022. they were fined £19,000 each. a proceeds of crime order was issued to recoup almost £a00,000 of illegal profit. despite the conviction, i've discovered the shellards are still in business. they're no longer selling dogs, but they're still in the extreme breeding game. i want to find out what's going on.

posing as a potential customer, i make an appointment with karl shellard. he takes me through to see the dogs. and in an outbuilding,

i'm amazed to see his dog fertility clinic still up and running. remember, the shellards were prosecuted a year ago, but business looks as good as ever.

the shellards are still operating because they're exploiting a loophole in the law. if you run a business selling puppies, you need a licence from your council. but if, like the shellards, you're only breeding from male dogs, then you don't need one at all. we asked marc adams—jones what he thought about the shellards getting back into the dog—breeding game. unbelievable. karl shellard is making an enormous amount of money, according to what i've just seen on the footage. he's doing that at the moment within the confines of the regulations. we need to look at things differently. we need to look at the way the breeders are looking at it in order to tighten up on the regulations. karl and victoria shella rd didn't respond to the allegations in this programme. it's those lax regulations and huge profits

that are now attracting a different sort of extreme breeder linked to organised crime. hi. how are you doing? an animal welfare investigator who's been looking into the bulldog trade has agreed to speak to me. she's worried about her safety, so we're concealing her identity. it's a massively lucrative trade, a multitude of breeders throughout the uk that are linked. what are you seeing? the more extreme dog that you produce, the more money you get. who are the main people in this network? the big breeders — the majority of them are criminals, drug dealers, organised crime gangs who are driving the market. it's exactly the same business model as selling drugs, but we're talking about dogs.

this is the uk american bully kennel club show. it has no connection to the official uk kennel club. i've been tipped off that this event is full of extreme breeding and cruel practices. i'm undercover with a colleague to gather evidence. inside the main arena, i watch the competition. all of the dogs have incredibly muscular frames. i also notice that most have their ears cropped — a practice banned 17 years ago. but here, american bullies with cropped ears win many of the main prizes. it's of real concern to the rspca, and to us, to see dogs that have been mutilated —

deliberately mutilated. it's totally against the law. it's totally illegal in the uk. ultimately, there is no excuse. the only reason an animal's ears have been cut off is for aesthetics. it's because people want them to look that way. in the last three years, more than 1,000 incidents of illegal ear cropping have been reported to the rspca in england and wales. most cases involve bully breeds. because it is illegal in this country, it is then going to this underground network of people to perform that surgery. it really is a worrying trend and really quite concerning and, from an animal welfare perspective, is absolutely appalling. back at the dog show, i check out the stalls. i recognise a number of faces here. some of them have criminal records. nathan stevens was jailed for attacking a man with a glass and leaving him partially blinded. anton boston is a convicted fraudster and runs a dog—breeding business in wales. and this man has three

convictions for violence. we can't name him because he's currently in court, facing more charges. we wrote to the american bully kennel club uk. they did not respond. i want to dig deeper into the world of extreme bulldog breeding. it seems like most sales take place on social media. i set up a facebook profile under a false name — stefan delaney. i make him out to be a dog lover and a businessman from leeds. i start to build his network. as stefan, i comment on people's dog posts, offer advice, and generally become a friend to all. 0ne name catches my eye — aaron lee. he was an apprentice judge at the dog show.

he runs a dog—breeding business called balaclava bullys. as a judge, you'd think he has high dog—welfare standards... dog whines up, up. here, up, up, up. ..but, here, he appears to be training a dog to attack a man inside what looks like a police van. indistinct shouting. aaron lee promotes the extreme characteristics of his puppies again and again on social media. little puppy update for everyone. a little mouse. look how strong they are. look at that muscle. he chuckles i make an appointment to see him. aaron lee is also exploiting the loophole in licensing regulations byjust breeding from his male dogs. he tells me he's focused on maximising their extreme features.

he takes me inside, and in a back room are two tiny american bully puppies with freshly cropped ears. aaron lee seems to be doing pretty well from his breeding business. i show the footage of the dogs with the freshly cropped ears to the rspca.

so, they're ten weeks old. yeah, it's... i mean, clearly, the fact that you can see they've been cut at ten weeks old, that is clearly an offence and, clearly, these dogs have been cropped in this country. what would the punishment be for that? so, up to five years, potentially, for causing suffering to an animal and/or a lifetime ban, and fines — you know, significant fines. aaron lee didn't respond to the allegations in this programme. he leads me to the next connection. on facebook, he regularly tags this man — thomas rayment. that doesn't make sense to me because rayment�*s in prison. he was jailed for six years in 2021 for running a county lines drugs gang. by this time, my fake bulldog—loving profile — stefan — is getting popular, and he gets a message. it's from thomas rayment. i reply as stefan.

i think there's probably two possibilities here — either someone else is running thomas rayment�*s account on facebook, or rayment is messaging me himself from prison. from the rayment account, i'm sent pictures of two dogs that have produced a litter. the puppies are being offered for sale through a company called muscletone bullys uk. and muscletone is massive. imagine one big, international kennel, but with franchises all over the world. muscletone is one of the most well—known breeding lines in the bully trade. now, if you look here, at the uk arm of the business, that's thomas rayment on the left. now, he seems to own the franchise here in the uk for muscletone. and then that man on the right — the one with the really distinctive face tattoo — that's a man called ryan

howard. now, if you look in the breedings section, if i go to the breedings section, the two main points of contact are ryan howard and thomas rayment. muscletone bullys uk claims to sell its dogs for huge sums, with pups not even born yet apparently selling for tens of thousands, others up to a quarter of a million. i message rayment back, again, as stefan. the thomas rayment account goes quiet for a while, and i wonder whether the deal�*s gone cold. then, suddenly...

right. so, this is bridge street. that... and that is not the house of a dog seller. that's a fertility clinic. the meetings been arranged for four o'clock. i'm supposed to be meeting thomas rayment. they're expecting businessman... ..stefan delaney. it's ryan howard, thomas rayment�*s business partner. i tell him that i'm stefan�*s girlfriend and that stefan�*s running late. hey! i try to get to the bottom of who's been messaging me.

according to his business partner, convicted drug dealer thomas rayment is running a very lucrative breeding business from prison, with the best of the litter going for more than £10,000. ryan howard is not licensed to breed and sell dogs, but he says he's got a huge network. the other dogs are looked after through a network of what's called co—owns, where the dealer gets someone else to house the dog while profiting from any sales.

it means that breeders can sell dozens and dozens of puppies without looking after them and without the authorities having any idea. i tell ryan howard that stefan�*s looking to invest. ryan howard told panorama that muscletone bullys uk... he said... he said they'd... and added that...

animal welfare investigators are seeing a growing trend in the practice of co—owning dogs. they say it can lead to mistreatment of the animals, and that can be dangerous. these breeders are passing these dogs from pillar to post. one day, they could be at a property with ten kids. the next day, they could be at a property left for days alone. these can be dangerous dogs. although american bullies are not banned, historically, they've been crossbred with pit bulls, and they've been banned in the uk since 1991. a woman from wrexham whose partner's dad died after being bitten by one of their dogs says she feels like she's living in a nightmare. 2022 was the deadliest ever for fatal dog attacks in the uk. merseyside police say the death of a 17—month—old girl after being attacked by a pet

dog has left her family and the local community in shock. ten people were killed — four of them children last year. american bullies were responsible for six deaths. caerphilly, 2021. this is beast, an american xl bully — the largest type of this breed. beast weighs more than 8st by the time he's 15 months old. the man holding the dog can't control it. itjumps up at one child, biting her on the arm. the man repeatedly punches the dog. at one point, it fixates on a young girl. she moves away behind a parked van. when it snaps at the child...

..the man punches the dog again. four days later, just around the corner, ten—year—old jack lis leaves home with his skateboard. emma. hiya. sam from the bbc. nice to meet you. how are you doing? can i come in? yeah, sure. you've got photos everywhere. yeah. they've become more important now, these photos? yeah, you don't realise that. no. one of his favourite films was back to the future... 0k. ..so we put that together, and that was on his shelf in his bedroom. he said, "can i go out to play?" and he wanted to take his

skateboard with him. and... ..the last thing i said to him was, "be careful." jack had met his friend straight after leaving the house, and his friend said, "do you want to come and see my new dog?" and within... ..maybe ten, 15 minutes of that, my door knocked. there was a lady saying, "you're jack's mum ? " i said, "yeah." she said, "he's been attacked by a dog." ijustjumped in the car. i pulled up outside the house. you could hear the dog barking. the dog tried running through the door. and that's how i saw the dog's face. the dog had only attacked one part of him, and it was here up.

his face? ah, 0k. and his neck. they kept saying, "they're working on him. they're working on him." and then... ..the paramedic walked away... ..and came back with a blanket... ..and i knew. i can't say out loud... ..what else i saw because i don't want... ..other people to have to picture it either. brandon hayden, who co—owned the dog, was jailed for four and a half years after admitting owning, or being in charge of, a dangerously out—of—control dog.

his friend, amy salter, was jailed for three years. the pair were banned from ever owning a dog again. every time i shut my eyes... ..i try and tell myself that's not the last image that i've got of him. i try and tell myself it was when he shut the door with his skateboard in his hands. but... ..that�*s not true. the dog that killed jack underlines many of the problems with the trade in bulldogs with extreme characteristics. brandon hayden wasn't a licensed breeder. he co—owned the dog and he got hold of it through an advert on social media. and look at this — just two months afterjack is killed, here's brandon hayden advertising for sale

a litter of american bully puppies on instagram. after months undercover investigating the bulldog trade, one thing is clear to me — as long as the regulations governing dog breeding remain lax, then unscrupulous breeders and criminals are going to carry on cashing in, and that means both people and dogs are going to suffer.

this is bbc news.

i'm vishala sri—pathma. our top stories: