An online advertisement asked for free dogs, specifically boxers, Staffordshire terriers and bulldogs, in the Cessnock area last week.

The Society of Companion Animal Rescuers (SoCares) vice-president David Atwell said some online ads for free dogs were from people who legitimately wanted pets, but others were linked to the bloodsport.

Mr Atwell said ongoing whispers of an illegal dog fighting operation in the Hunter was more than a rumour, but witnesses were too scared to come forward.

He said many popular buy, swap and sell websites had become havens for people to anonymously obtain canines that were then abused. 

“They are not rumours, I can guarantee you,” he said.

“It [the internet] is a recruiting ground.

“They want some dogs for fighting but they also want some dogs as what is called bait dogs.”

Bait dogs are used as soft targets to allow fighting dogs to practice their fighting on.

“I came across a bait dog in Muswellbrook, a little white staffy, when I was the photographer for the pound,” Mr Atwell said.

“It was covered in bites, wounds upon wounds. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done.”

SoCares received reports from three ­independent witnesses in June, 2012, that indicated dog fighting was taking place at a property about 20 minutes outside Cessnock.

Mr Atwell said the organisation reported the finding to police, but officers needed ­witnesses to make official statements before they could investigate.

But Mr Atwell said the witnesses were too scared for their safety, and the possibility of revenge from the property owner, to put their accounts on record.

“We need to establish the fact that yes, this is happening and it’s not an urban myth,” he said.