A criminal who kept 11 illegal fighting dogs in a cramped basement flat is facing jail after being found guilty of animal cruelty.
Akim Adelaja, 22, trained the banned animals at his home in Elms Lane, Wembley, forcing them to run up and down his back garden tied to heavy tyres and chains.
He also let the dangerous dogs roam freely around the streets, intimidating and attacking petrified residents.
Adelaja was arrested during an early morning raid that police described as "the biggest and most successful the borough has ever seen."
More than 20 officers from Northwick Park Safer Neighbourhoods Team and the police dog unit swooped on his flat in September last year following complaints from neighbours.
An American Bulldog bitch and six puppies were found in a cage in the kitchen, an injured Mastiff-type dog was found in the bathroom and a further two American Bulldogs and a pregnant Pitbull-type bitch were discovered roaming in a bedroom.
The squalid three-room flat stank of urine and was covered in dog faeces.
Books on dog training, writing pads containing notes on breeding plans and dog strengthening equipment, that included chains and weight-pulling harnesses were also found inside the flat, along with tyres used in strengthening exercises.
Sergeant Andy Lester, from Northwick Park Safer Neighbourhoods Team, said: "To keep that many dogs in a small, one-bedroom, basement flat was excessive.
"Adelaja's disrespect for the safety of others, by breeding fighting dogs which are banned by law, has led to his conviction.
"His care of these dogs was clearly insufficient, despite the store of reading material he had built up on the subject."
During the raid, one of the American Bulldogs - which are trained to hunt wild boar in the USA - escaped out of a window leading police on a 10 minute chase through the streets of Wembley before being caught.
All 11 dogs, which are banned in the UK, were taken to a police kennelling facility and examined.
Shortly after the seizure, the pregnant Pitbull gave birth to seven puppies but they all died through illness contracted prior to birth.
JP's at Brent Magistrates Court convicted Adelaja of nine offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act and Animal Welfare Act, on Wednesday last week.
They included possessing, breeding and selling fighting dogs, causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and training dogs for animal fights.
He will be sentenced on December 16.
PC Simon Underwood, who heads up Brent Action for Responsible K9s, said: "It is very sad that some people see their dogs simply as status symbols but we are extremely pleased with the result.
"A number of officers and experts put together a very complex case, we believe it is the first, or one the first cases of this size in London to take place involving both the Dangerous Dogs Act and the new Animal Welfare Act."
Chief Inspector Jan Eachus, RSPCA, said: "Those involved in dog fighting have no regard for the welfare of animals and the dogs that they own are subjected to terrible suffering and not given veterinary treatment for their injuries. We are determined to stamp out any form of dog fighting and to assist the police in these raids."
