Cavlan was fined �650 at Dungannon magistrates court in April after pleading guilty to possession of a dangerous dog.

Cavlan told the court he wasn't the pitbull's owner, but that he had collected it from kennels for a Dublin man and had taken the dog for "a twominute walk to stretch its legs" before it would be delivered to the other man.

The USPCA's Brian Wilson said: "Gerard Cavlan insisted in court that he didn't have a dog himself yet in Thursday's Panorama programme he was secretly filmed discussing how he owned more than a dozen dogs. He must be questioned by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) about perjury with a view to prosecution."

The court banned Cavlan from keeping terrier-type dogs for five years but this ruling was overturned on appeal.

Wilson said: "Until Panorama, nobody had seen a dogfight unless they had been at one. The programme exposed the horrors that go on.

"Hopefully, judges were watching too and there will be tougher sentencing in possession of dangerous dogs and animal cruelty cases in future.

The law allows for a one-year prison sentence for possession of a dangerous dog and we'd like to see that being implemented."

Wilson compared Cavlan's case to that of former US football star Michael Vick, who is facing prison after pleading guilty last month to involvement in a dog-fighting ring.

"Dog-fighting is a perversion of sport. Any sports star involved in it is trailing the good name of sport into the gutter. As role models for young people, sportsmen should not be involved in such behaviour, " Wilson said.

Vick faces a fine of up to $350,000 and up to five years in prison.