Time to act over hare coursing to protect farmers, crops and wildlife – Charles Mills

THINK of the countryside and chances are you will picture beautiful, calming scenery.
Hare coursing is said to be endemic in parts of Yorkshire.Hare coursing is said to be endemic in parts of Yorkshire.
Hare coursing is said to be endemic in parts of Yorkshire.

We think of postcard-perfect images of Yorkshire’s lush rolling hills, valleys and vales; environments managed for generations by farmers to produce precious food supplies for us all.

The countryside is a place of enterprise that our farmers call home and which, at its best, offers a welcome and comforting sense of freedom, space and serenity for us all. Sadly, beyond these idyllic images is a hidden dark side which isn’t widely recognised or understood.

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Farmland is being exploited and farming families intimidated because of an endemic crime, one that has plagued my own farm for at least 35 years and is part of a growing nationwide rural crimewave.

Charles Mills is a North Yorkshire farmer and Show Director at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.Charles Mills is a North Yorkshire farmer and Show Director at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Charles Mills is a North Yorkshire farmer and Show Director at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

Hare coursing is a nasty criminal scourge whereby dogs are set loose to illegally pursue hares to their death. This barbaric act is linked to serious organised crime and a worrying rural crimewave that is estimated to cost the industry at least £55m a year.

Hare coursing was outlawed by the 2004 Hunting Act, yet it remains rife. Criminals continue to believe they can operate outside the law without recriminations due to the isolated nature of the countryside.

It isn’t a petty crime but a sophisticated criminal enterprise involving online betting – proceeds of which fund criminal gangs suspected of all sorts of other criminal activity affecting society. Tackling hare coursing is a win for us all.

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Farmers whose land is targeted by these brazen poachers are at their wits end. I know I speak for many farmers when I say we are left feeling vulnerable, violated, upset, powerless and too often, devoid of adequate protection – feelings that form an uneasy backdrop to our day to day lives.

An image from a previous police appeal over hare coursing in the region.An image from a previous police appeal over hare coursing in the region.
An image from a previous police appeal over hare coursing in the region.

Hare coursers trespass on private land, trample, drive over and destroy precious food crops that feed the nation, as well as wildlife that we work hard to nurture. Environmental stewardship of our land creates habitats so that creatures like hares thrive.

Emotionally, hare coursing is devastating. Gangs of intruders target farmland day and night.

When confronted – something the police insist we shouldn’t do – we’re met with menacing aggression, arrogance, abuse and threats. It is so tough to do nothing when these crimes happen at your home, when you know wildlife is being ripped to pieces for lucrative criminal gain and your family is scared. By acting otherwise however, we risk putting ourselves in real danger.

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The message from police is to call ‘999’ when you see an incident happening and trust their response. However, farmers lose confidence in the police when culprits leave before officers arrive, when they are given no information about how immediately officers will attend the scene and when criminals return time and again.

Police need more powers to combat a rise in hare coursing, farmers argue.Police need more powers to combat a rise in hare coursing, farmers argue.
Police need more powers to combat a rise in hare coursing, farmers argue.

At the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, a charity that supports farmers year-round, we say ‘enough is enough’. We want the impact of hare coursing to be better understood and to inform a stronger response to this crime. Police forces and politicians must be held accountable and use all of their powers to tackle this scourge.

We recently raised our concerns with North Yorkshire Police and the region’s Police and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan who, as chair of the National Rural Crime Network, works with police forces to tackle rural crime more effectively.

We have been assured that a rural force such as North Yorkshire is focused on tackling hare coursing within the bounds of current, limited legislative powers, but there is so much more that must be done to effectively respond to and deter this crime across Yorkshire and beyond.

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We recognise that police are held back by archaic legislation. A coalition of countryside organisations is lobbying the Government for changes to the law. We whole-heartedly endorse calls for unlocking greater financial penalties for offenders; for police and courts to have greater forfeiture powers of associated dogs and cars; for police to be able to recover kennelling costs for seized dogs; and for far more practical powers that do not limit police to capturing criminals in the act at the point of arrest.

We urge all MPs to grasp the severity of hare coursing and its impacts and press for real change. At the same time, farmers need the best police response to this crime. Forces must dedicate adequate resources to tackling rural crime and respond with urgent dispatches to 999 calls when hare coursing is taking place.

Hare coursing isn’t a minority issue. An estimated 9.6 million people live in rural England – roughly one in every six people in this country – and if the onus is on us as farmers to manage the natural environment whilst producing food to the highest standards for public good, we should expect adequate protection from crime.

Charles Mills is a North Yorkshire farmer and Show Director at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

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