A destruction order was placed on the pit bull terriers by Craigavon Magistrates Court yesterday after police, USPCA and council officers joined forces to uncover what is believed to have been a dog-fighting ring.

Pits for the banned animals to fight in were also found at the derelict farm buildings on the Old Scarva Road near Tandragee where they were seized last Friday.

The discovery was made following an anonymous tip-off to the USPCA by a member of the public.

John Briggs, acting chief executive of Armagh City Council, said this morning: "Officers from the environmental health department attended the scene and found 27 pit bull terriers.

"Their identities were confirmed by the USPCA and we went to court last Friday for a court order to seize the dogs."

Once the dogs, a banned breed under the Dangerous Dogs Order 1991, are put to sleep, the council is unable to take further legal action, he said.

However, the discovery of fighting pits has prompted the police to investigate evidence of a dog-fighting ring operating in Co Armagh.

Armagh mayor Councillor William Irwin said this morning he had no idea there was dog fighting in Co Armagh, but someone in the area must have been aware. He believes the timing of the tip-off is no coincidence.

"I would have thought that what happened to that child in England would have pricked someone's conscience," he said.

"They were found in derelict farm buildings - I think certainly no-one lived at the premises. These dogs would have been a danger to children if any one of them had got loose, so I am glad to see them out of circulation."