A man who made shocking videos of his dogs brutally killing wild foxes, badgers, deer, and pigeons has been locked up and banned from keeping dogs.
Acting on intelligence, officers from the Bassetlaw neighbourhood policing team, Newark and Sherwood Operation Reacher team, and the Force’s tactical support group carried out a warrant at Daniel Taylor’s home, in Worksop, on 24 February 2023.
The warrant uncovered a hoard of 15 deer skulls, 14 fox tails, two deer heads, two sets of antlers, and a bag of wire snares. A blood-stained quad bike and lamping equipment were also recovered.
Taylor was detained and his phone was seized. Dogs found at his address were also subsequently seized as part of the investigation.
His device was found to contain hundreds of horrific videos and images, filmed and taken by the 32-year-old, showing his dogs being cruelly set on foxes, badgers, deer, and pigeons.
Taylor, of Shrewsbury Road, is heard in the distressing videos encouraging his dogs to kill, while under his control, and causing unnecessary suffering and death to wild animals.
Specially qualified Nottinghamshire Police rural and wildlife crime officers worked incredibly hard to investigate the case which led to Taylor being charged with wildlife offences.
Investigating officers painstakingly reviewed all of the upsetting footage which was downloaded from Taylor’s phone. This footage was condensed down to 31 videos, showing animals being viciously attacked and killed, which were submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as part of the case against Taylor.
A total of 161 upsetting and graphic images were also found on his phone.
Taylor went on to plead guilty to four counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely foxes, badgers, deer, and pigeons, by setting dogs on them.
These offences were committed in Nottinghamshire between 31 August 2021 and 21 February 2023.
Taylor was jailed for two years and eight months when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday (7 March 2024).
He was also banned from owning, keeping, or participating in keeping dogs and was told it would be seven years before he can apply for a termination of this disqualification order.
Good time baby first on own squid like a a little bit around we did it went to Daniel Taylor’s address um to conduct a misuse of drugs act warrant when we entered uh we went into the back yarden at the back of the at the back of the
Premises there are numerous dog kennels uh dogs running about and what can only be described as a Slaughter house in the in the back Garden full of fox Tales deer skulls uh we found deer heads decomposing some in Bleach obviously being stripped before we went in on the
Warrant there was a lot of intelligence came from the local rural community um it was pretty much nearly every night quad bikes going out with dogs um killing animals or leaving deer carcuses beheading there was several deer that had been beheaded so from that the reports that came in from them we was
Able to then establish actually on this date at this time he was in that area there’s some pictures or videos of him in that area at that time with his phone data so they supposed to look after a night lamping boy true poaching onor being out for two
Nights looks like a mug so obviously after the warrant we submitted the phones and downloaded those they returned with hundreds of videos and it was apparent that he was been over a long period of time they’d been going out um on the videos he not necessarily
Shows him but it shows his dogs killing animals you can hear him he’s clearly filming them and he’s narrating he’s you know he’s encouraging his dog go on go on good lad good lad he always good and he’s encouraging what he’s wanting to do pick tonight Boze the first thing I soon realized
Watching of was the quantity of violence um it it wasn’t just the odd video it was nearly all the videos that were saved was absolutely brutal those animals have been killed in most barbaric way there’s no humane way that they’ve been killed they been torn apart it’s not something that people want to
Watch I certainly don’t want to be watching that day and day out but it’s part of my job I’ve watched it all I’ve watched every single second of those videos and it’s absolutely heartbreaking to think that somebody would go out and do that to an innocent animal the videos
Were gruesome they literally showed the torture of different kinds of animals with Taylor’s dogs ripping these animals to shreds good Lord to hear those animals screaming out in pain those innocent animals and it’s just deafening that the fact that they’re squealing um in obviously in pain and these aren’t just
A couple of seconds videos these are prolonged horrific attacks the dog can is clearly trained to kill and it does not stop till it’s killed some of the videos the the the actual guts are hanging out the the squealing out in pain it’s it’s horrendous it’s it really
Should be for nobody to watch in half a season and look where I’ve done my do that we are one dog