IT’S famous for its historic castle and its local cheeses but a small UK town has now become renowned for a much darker reason.
Ruthless dog breeders have spread terror across the Welsh community by selling banned XL Bullies for up to £12,000 per dog.
And densely-populated housing estates around Caerphilly in the “Valleys”; area of south have seen a spate of attacks by the illegal in recent years.
Most notably, schoolboy , 10, was fatally savaged by an XL Bully at a house on the Penyrhoel estate in 2021 and, a year later, beloved gran, , died 18 days after being mauled by an American XL Bully less than half a mile away.
In April 2023, a five-month-old baby was rushed to hospital after an attack in Penyrheol.
In the months that followed, dozens more people in Penyrhoel and neighbouring Graig-y-Rhacca were attacked by XL Bullies or close variants of the breed, including , seven, who were almost killed by a Pocket Bullydog– a cross between an American Bully and a Patterdale terrier.
Today, The Sun can reveal the wave of attacks in this tight-knit community started as the UK began to emerge from lockdown.
Two men in their early 20s, who have lived in Caerphilly their whole lives, claim to know the culprits.
One of the men, who pleaded with us not to reveal the pair’s identities, told us: “It all started a few years ago when a couple of people from round here wentto and brought back four XL Bully dogs in their VW camper van.
“It was all legal. The dogs had and everything, but when they bought them back here, they bred the f... out of them.
“These types of bully dogs are worth thousands and there was easy to be made.
“There’s no work around these parts. Most of the local people are living on benefits. It’s been like this foryears.
“Dog breeding proved to be a good way to make a living. They used the four dogs they brought into the country to breed masses of pups, then sold them for up to £12,000 a time.
“Then the people who bought the pups started breeding them with other types of dogs and it just got completely out of control. Because the next generation of pups were cross breeds and not automatically illegal, it got hard for the authorities to police.
“But they were just as aggressive in the wrong hands and they started attacking people. That’s why there were so many victims. For every one that got reported, there were another 20 that weren’t.
“It quickly got outof hand and now there are here every day.”;
Vile mauling
Locals were shocked when the vicious attacks went further, causing the two tragic deaths in November 2021 and December 2022.
“It was horrific when Jack Lis died after he was savaged by a dog called Beast, and thengrandmother Shirley Patrick waskilled.
“That was horrible. She had and the dog just ripped her head open.
“A couple of days later I was told the bloke whose dog it washadbeen seen in the pub drinkingand laughing.
“After that,the authorities and the policecracked down hard.
“I’ve been told that since those attacks, there have been between 500 to 1,000 dogsputdown.
“You won’t see many dogs around hereanymore, people are ashamed to walk dogs.
“Those that do tend to be looked down upon, even if they are ordinary dogs.
“It’s a close community here and we all try to look out for eachother, but these tragedies have reallyknocked people sideways.”;
Overwhelmed owner
However, the men also had some sympathy for the owner of ‘Beast’, , who was jailed for four and a half years in 2022 over Jack’s death.
“He was only eighteenwhen he was given the killer dog – we all knew him,he wasn’t a badguy,”; said one.
“But he honestly didn’t know what he had taken on. The dog proved a killer and he went to for it.
“He’s out now but not living around here anymore. It’s torn him apart and he is full of remorse because ofwhat happened.
“I don’t think he could have come back to this area because I don’t think he would be welcome, so he has had to go and live somewhereelse and start over.”;
Intimidating yobs
Richard Evans, 41, who used to work at nearby until he had to quit due to a medical problem, said: “Youngsters congregatearound the chippy and the shop here in Penyrhoel and, yes, there used to be dogs here. It was pretty intimidating.
“I’ve lived here for around five years and have a five-year-old little girl, so obviously I’m very careful not to let her out unaccompanied.
“If anythinghappenedto her like little Jack I don’t know how I’d carry on.
“The trouble is the breed has got into the wrong hands and because the people who buythem don’t know how to look after them, people get hurt.
“Dogs are the same as people, if they are not brought up properly when they are young they can run wild and that’s what I reckon has happened here.
“How you are bought up is how you end up.”;
Call for tougher laws
The mother of Rory Colwill, Chelsea, has campaigned vigorously for tougher laws against illegal dog breeding since her son and his pal Conor were attacked.
She said: “The boys were so terrified after the attack that they wouldn’t leave the house for a long time.”;
Chelsey, 31, had to punch, stamp and kick the “out-of-control”; animal as its jaws locked around Conor’s hip when it pounced on the boys in the street without warning.
She said: “Rory is still so traumatised by what happened. Thisdogshould never have been allowed outdoors without a muzzle. His owner was not fit to have adoglike this because he clearly could not control it.
“He just stood and watched while this animal tried to kill the boys.
“We need new and better laws to protect the public, such as making owners of potentially dangerousdogshold a special licence and more safety checks.
“Maybe the types of breeds we allow also needs looking at again.”;
Chief Superintendent Jason White, of Gwent Police,said: “We have seen a rise in the number of reports for the offence of dogs acting out of control causing injury and Gwent is no exception to this national increase in reported offences.
“But with that rise in reports comes an increased awareness of attacks involving dogs and their impact in our communities, meaning more people are confident in reporting these offences to us and trusting us to take decisive actions, such as seizing dogs, when necessary.
“Our officers take a proactive stance on dealing with dogs involved in any kind of attack, but we also want to promoteto all our communities that responsible dog ownership is vital in keeping the public safe from harm.”;
