Animal welfare chiefs are furious after a “barbaric” urban hunter who arranged for dogs to fight badgers had his jail sentence quashed.
Two injured lurchers were rescued from Conran Connor’s home but it’s feared another dog used in fights died.
Earlier this year, a sheriff sent Connor to prison for 21 weeks.
But now the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh has overturned that sentence and ordered Connor, 21, of Wishaw, Lanarkshire, to do 130 hours of unpaid community work instead.
Last night, an undercover Scottish SPCA inspector said: “We are disappointed Connor Conran’s custodial sentence has been revoked.
" It was one of the most harrowing cases of animal cruelty our team has dealt with.’
Connor admitted keeping dogs for fighting, causing them to fight badgers and asking another man to film the gruesome activity.
Jailing him, Sheriff Mhairi Mactaggart told Connor: “These offences are, on any objective view, cruel and barbaric in the extreme.”
He was freed on bail immediately pending his appeal against the prison sentence.
Connor told investigators he treated his dogs’ injuries with staples rather than take them to a vet because it was quicker.
Connor’s lawyer Jackson Bateman had urged Sheriff Mactaggart to “stop short” of jailing Connor.
He said: “He was only 18 at the time and comes from a family who viewed that sort of behaviour as acceptable.”
