Rustenburg-An Eyewitness News investigation has lifted the lid on the shady world of dog fighting, which is widespread in South Africa. 

The illicit sport, on an organised level, reportedly involves secret communication on social media with some bets including sexual acts and drugs. 

Eyewitness News has obtained a graphic video of two bloody Pitbull puppies mauling each other in a park somewhere in the Cape Town metro. 

The Cape of Good Hope Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)’s Allan Perrins says the blood sport is prevalent throughout the province involving a number of clubs with racial admission criteria and rival kennels battling it out.

“We also know that Huskies are thrown into the pit having been drenched in blood and used to offset the blood lust of some of these fighting dogs.

”But the National Animal Welfare Task Team’s (NAWTT) Mariette Hopley says the problem is not just limited to the Western Cape.

“There was a dog fight that came up in Rustenburg where the bet on a dog was R1.5 million.” She says dog fighting and cross–border dog smuggling is also often linked to drug trafficking and money laundering. Last month seven boys, all under the age of 15, were arrested in Muizenberg in connection with dog fighting.

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