The SPCA is investigating a possible resurgence in illegal dog fighting.
National operations manager Jim Boyd says he has received reports of illegal dog fights in the past three to four months.
He is following up on the information and is planning an operation in the North Island, though is not saying in which particular area.
Mr Boyd says there are various levels of dog fighting, from low-level street fighting, to professionally organised fights and he is not sure what level the latest incidents fit in to.
He says there tends to be an increase in such incidents in times of high unemployment, when people get bored.
During economic decline in the late 1980s and mid-1990s, when unemployment rose, dog fighting also increased, Mr Boyd says.
