‘I watched every single second of animal torture videos... it was heartbreaking’
SHOCKED POLICE HORRIFIED BY ANIMAL KILLER
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Police officers have spoken out after catching a man who encouraged his dogs to kill animals in “horrific and prolonged attacks”.
A complex investigation led to the jailing of animal killer Daniel Taylor.
The Worksop man caused barbaric suffering to wildlife by setting his dogs on foxes, badgers, deer, and pigeons. He was heard in videos encouraging his dogs to tear the animals apart.
Officers who raided his home at Shrewsbury Road on February 24 last year were horrified when they discovered Taylor’s trophies, including 15 deer skulls, 14 fox tails, two deer heads and two sets of antlers.
PC Ben Harrison said: “At the back of Taylor’s premises we found what was essentially a slaughterhouse for animals.
“We found items including deer skulls, fox tails, decomposing deer heads, antlers, a bag of snares, and a bloodstained quad bike. Taylor was located and his mobile phone was seized. That phone was downloaded and on that phone, we found hundreds of shocking videos and images of different animals being slaughtered by dogs.”
He continued: “Taylor clearly took pleasure out of his dogs torturing these animals. They were clearly being trained to get hold of these animals and rip them to shreds.
“The videos were gruesome and the sounds of the animals squealing in pain were horrible. On many of the videos, you can hear Taylor almost narrating it and encouraging his dogs to attack and kill.
“In one particular video, while Taylor was filming one of these acts, he dropped his phone and it flipped over. He bent over to pick it up and it captured a full-face shot of him. There was no question over who was doing the filming or who was the owner of these videos.”
Taylor appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday and was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. The 32-year-old has also been 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 the order.
Taylor pleaded guilty to four counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely foxes, badgers, deer and pigeons, by setting dogs on them. The offences were committed between August 31, 2021 and February 21 last year.
PC Mark Holland said: “I watched every single second of those horrendous videos and the first thing I realised was the level of violence.
“Those innocent animals were killed in the most barbaric way. These were horrific and prolonged attacks which resulted in animals screaming in pain and being torn apart. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
The investigation was led by rural crime officers from the Bassetlaw neighbourhood policing team, including Chief Inspector Clive Collings.
Chief Inspector Collings, rural and wildlife crime lead, said: “The videos I saw in this case were sickening and horrific. It’s the most extreme case of animal cruelty I’ve come across in my 26 and a half years in the police.
“Just the breadth of Taylor’s offending, the length of time it was done over, and seeing the enjoyment he took out of the cruelty he inflicted on these animals.
“I’d like to commend the officers and staff for their painstaking work in this case over 12 months, including an incredible amount of complexity to some of the bits done around the mobile phone footage and being able to track that to particular areas and people.”
He added: “I hope the outcome in this case sends a strong message to people involved in this sort of crime that we are committed to pursuing them and ensuring we achieve a successful prosecution for the communities we serve.
“It illustrates that we are listening to our rural communities and acting on the intelligence we are provided with and shows them we will take things to the extreme to get cases to court and ensure offenders are brought to justice.”