This is an interesting new petition – it only sprang into life four days ago. I’ve signed it because hare coursing is illegal and I disapprove of wildlife crime. It’s also a pretty nasty country field sport which we are right to put behind us and it’s good to see Edward Coles (who I am guessing is the same one who has commented on this blog nearly 100 times since 2014 supporting everything from lead ammunition to general licences to Pheasant shooting) opposing this type of activity. It’s good to find something on which we can more fully agree.
I have a few doubts about whether combining poaching and hare coursing is the right thing to do – it gives the impression that this petition is more directed at those illegal attacks on willife that most annoy land owners rather than those most reprehensible from an animal point of view – but no matter.
And from my few discussions with senior police officers, I have some doubts over whether tougher sentencing would, alone solve this problem, or even whether it is the best and most important option. There is so much money in this ‘sport’ that fines are unlikely to have much impact. I am told that confiscation of dogs is a deterrent that the police would like to use more, but that costs quite a bit of money (and the Countryside Alliance seem to think the same).
As always, it’s a complicated situation – but drawing attention to it in this way isn’t a bad idea and I’m happy to support it. Mine was signature 3482 and I think it will be the 17th in Corby when the ‘by constituency’ figures up date.
It is a while ago, but back in 2007 the Countryside Alliance were arguing that hare coursing was a human right under EU law (and see here too) – that is wickedly funny on so many levels that I won’t go into them here.
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Confiscation of cars and dogs seems to be a good deterrent, frequently deployed. And the equivalent for illegal Fox hunting would be to confiscate the horses and hounds. Of course that has never been given a second thought. I think you have been more than generous signing and publicising such a narrowly framed and poorly worded petition.
The obvious answer would be to strengthen the Hunting Act under which coursing of hares with long dogs (and hunting hares with beagles whilst dressed as leprechauns) is prohibited. Celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright and horse trainer and self-avowed bloodsports aficionado Mark Prescott were prosecuted and convicted of hare coursing under this in 2009. The focus of this petition appears to focus more on class war against lads in shellsuits and crimes against property under a shroud of virtue signalling about animal welfare.
Hare coursing in the 21st Century is very complex. It is now very much part of urban organised crime/illegal betting. I live in an area plagued by regular visits from very nasty gangs of men involved in this activity, who come out of more urban areas with dogs to bet on the dogs which are racing, in our fields, to get a hare. The advice from local police is to take details, to NOT be seen by them, to report quietly. Those who are observed ‘taking an interest’ are likely to get intimidated or hurt. Dogs get dumped, fields get trashed, property gets damaged. But is it clear that coursing is now very much a betting activity, the injured/dead hare is often dumped. It used to be much more abotu the skill of the dog chase, the ‘game’ has changed. Whilst I applaud thepetition, its really hard to nail evidence on these gangs due to the dangers inherent in gathering any evidence by those of us who live in hare hotspots…. our best hope is the rare occassion when they mess up and get stuck in mud or flood waters, as does happen, see for instance here. the links also highlight how small the penalty….
https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/a1101-flooded-welney-coursers-cars-stuck-1509122
https://www.cambs.police.uk/news-and-appeals/Hare-coursers-caught-catapult-sentenced
https://www.cambstimes.co.uk/news/fen-cops-crackdown-on-hare-coursing-1-6869371
Any petition that brings attention to the crimes of coursing and poaching surely should be supported. The current penalties for poaching are of little if any deterrent and I for one am fed up of armed thugs roaming the fields behind my house every winter. (one just last week). According to our local wildlife crime officer, poaching tends to run in families and the police find themselves handing out fines and ASBOs to people who have family members who, after having gone through the same very long list of penalties have finally found themselves in prison. Stiffer penalites from the word go would be a start. I would also suggest that landowners should bear some of the cost of policing these crimes when, as happens near me, they leave their gates to fields wide open, or at least unlocked. It’s practically an open invitation to trespass, then the landowners complain the police are not doing enough to stop the criminals.
As has already been mentioned by others here, hare coursers are notoriously dangerous and should never be approached by a member of the public (neither should a poacher armed with a lethal weapon). By the time the police arrive on the scene they have often long gone. The use of drones is, I understand being increased to track down coursers, but we also need more police officers, who, in rural areas, are quite a scarce commodity.