THE dog attack which left 10-year-old Caerphilly boy Jack Lis dead has been featured in a Panorama investigation by the BBC.
Jack Lis was killed at a house in PenyrheolCaerphilly on November 8, 2021.
The animal was later shot dead by armed police officers.
Tonight, BBC’s Panorama is going undercover to reveal the increasingly close relationship between organised crime and dog dealing.
Reporter Sam Poling infiltrates a network of dealers making millions by breeding dogs to extremes.
She exposes how some drugs dealers have switched from dealing narcotics to dealing dogs, and shows how the growing popularity of breeds like American and French bulldogs has led some breeders to resort to cruel and dangerous tactics.
The episode replays CCTV footage of the days leading up to the attack, in which the dog ‘Beast’ can be seen lunging at passers by.
Jack Lis’ mother Emma appears in the episode of Panorama, speaking about the incident in which her son lost his life.
She emotionally recounts the last thing she said to her son was “be careful”, when he went out to play on his skateboard.
Jack met up with a friend, who invited him back to his house to see his new dog.
The dog was Beast.
“Within maybe 15 minutes of that, my door knocked,” Ms Lis said.
“A lady asked if I was Jack’s mum. I said yes.
“She said “he’s been attacked by a dog.”
Ms Lis recalls jumping in her car and racing to the house.
“You could hear the dog barking,” she said.
“The dog tried running through the door, I saw its face.”
She said that the dog had only attacked Jack’s face and neck.
“They [medical crews] kept saying they were working on him,” she said.
She describes how the paramedic then walked away from the house and returned with a blanket.
“I knew,” she said.
“I can’t say out loud what I saw, I don’t want other people to have to picture it.
“Every time I shut my eyes I tell myself, that’s not the last image I have of him.
“I try to tell myself it’s when he shut the door with his skateboard.
“It’s not true.”
Brandon Hayden, who owned the dog, was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institute for both of the two counts of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.
He also recieved a sentence of four years and six months for the offence of being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.
Amy Salter was sentenced to three years in prison for the offence of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death.
The pair were banned from owning a dog in the future.
Just two months after Jack was killed, Hayden was advertising dogs for sale on social media.
Panorama – Dogs, Dealers and Organised Crime is on BBC One at 8pm tonight.
