By Mark McGivern

Copyright dailyrecord

A sadistic “urban hunter” who allowed his dogs to rip apart domestic cats and terrorise a Scottish town was jailed after a court watched horror videos of his crimes. John Dysart was locked up after Sheriff Neil Bowie, at Alloa Sheriff Court, watched graphic scenes of cats and badgers being torn apart by three lurcher dogs. Dysart had filmed the video nasties and then circulated them to associates – one of whom alerted the Scottish SPCA (SSPCA). When investigators from the watchdog body’s Special Investigations Unit seized Dysart’s mobile phone, a gallery of shocking evidence was extracted, which revealed the appalling extent of his cruelty. Jailing Dysart for ten months and giving him a lifetime ban from keeping animals, Sheriff Neil Bowie told him he had used his dogs to mercilessly kill domestic cats on a public street. He said: “You also set dogs on badgers, causing them to be severely injured and most likely killed. This is very significant cruelty towards defenceless and protected animals , apparently for your senseless gratification. “This was both deliberate and planned, having possession of equipment designed and adapted for use at animal fights. This was further aggravated, in my view, by publishing video recordings of the offences. “That in itself, caused further distress to those who viewed it due to the gravity of the offences . The only appropriate sentence in line is due to one of imprisonment.” Staff at Alloa Sheriff Court were visibly repulsed and gasped at the savagery in six videos filmed by Dysart that were shown to the sheriff. Four badgers and a ginger car were seen being mutilated and ripped apart by three of Dysart’s dogs. In mitigation, the brute had, ridiculously, tried to claim the dogs had been hunting rabbits but had been drawn to the scent of other animals. The truth is that Dysart was allowing his dogs to kill any animal that came close. His crimes left pet owners in the town in a state of fear and warnings had been circulated locally to keep cats and small dogs indoors during Dysart’s reign of terror. In court, fiscal Karen Rollo told how Dysart had gone equipped with professional hunting equipment – like lamps, spades and forks to dig out badgers. She detailed how one video showed a cat being attacked by a black lurcher dog and a grey lurcher dog. She said: “The attack occurred on a pavement in a residential street during darkness. The attack is illuminated by the light of the mobile phone recording the attack itself. “The black lurcher, dog with a purple collar should be seen biting the cat’s back close to its rear legs, whilst at the same time, the grey lurcher with the black collar can be seen biting the cat by the throat. The cat can be heard pining and groaning as the two dogs maul it to death from either side simultaneously.” The fiscal said the video had the words “aner wan” overlaying the film – meaning Dysart had killed other cats . In March last year SSPCA officers, in conjunction with Police Scotland, executed a warrant that led to Dysart being jailed. They found veterinary medicines used to treat injured dogs – which is common among urban hunters. Messages extracted from Dysart’s phone included a heated exchange with an associate who told him: “Letting your f****** dogs maul cats. That’s some wean’s pet. F****** sick in the head – it’s the lowest of the low.” The lead officer in the SSPCA ’s Special Investigations Unit welcomed the sentence. She said: “This sends out a message that this kind of crime won’t be tolerated and will be met with a significant jail sentence. “We welcome the lifetime ban on Dysart from keeping animals and we hope his sentence will deter others who inflict such cruelty on animals and then compound the cruelty by filming the horrific torture and killing for their gratification.” Dysart lowered his head during the video screenings and refused to watch the footage he had filmed.