HOW CRIMINAL
NINE dead hares line a country road in a sickening message of defiance from gangsters raking in millions from a cruel and bloody sport.
The chilling scene was to taunt locals who oppose hare coursing – where dogs are unleashed to chase down and tear their target to pieces.
The barbaric sport has become huge business, with chases streamed live to a global audience and thousands of pounds bet on the first dog to strike or how many hares will perish.
In a shocking report, we discovered: ■ One police force had 1,000 reports of illegal chases in three months. Nationwide there were at least 10,000 in 2020. ■ A farmer who challenged coursers was shot at in his Land Rover.
■ Trenches are being dug around farmland in a bid to keep coursing gangs off. ■ Lurchers and salukis are cross-bred to produce powerful killing machines.
■ Career crooks, many involved in huge drug plots, are driving the sick “sport”.
The level of cruelty is horrific and the damage to the countryside is severe.
One exasperated farmer said: “It’s an absolute epidemic. We’re under siege.”
Gamekeeper Trevor Hunter, 62, saw the dead hares on the Hampshire and Wiltshire border, near Andover.
VIOLENCE
He said: “They had been very deliberately spaced out. It was clearly a message to say, ‘We are here, we’re coursing and there’s nothing you can do about it’.
“They are not a nice bunch, they don’t give two hoots about farmers and they are capable of extreme violence.
“Unless something’s urgently done someone is going to get seriously injured or killed. It’s a horrendous situation.”
Hare coursing has been illegal since 2004. But despite thousands of cases across the country, there have been only a handful of convictions and paltry fines.
One of England’s most senior rural police chiefs warned current powers are wholly inadequate. Chief Inspector Phil Vickers, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “There is big money involved and a couple of hundred pounds fine is not a deterrent. We would like to see courts given greater powers to hand out tougher sentences.
“The majority of coursers are involved in other forms of criminality. Generally, they are career criminals.”
Frightened locals who dare to stand up to the coursers face intimidation, threats and violence. The National Farmers’ Union says four in 10 members reported at least one incidence of hare coursing.
The NFU’s Mike Thomas said: “There has been a significant increase – the activity is more organised, with increasingly violent escalations.”
One illegal event in Lincolnshire, the Fir Cup, is rumoured to have prize money of £6,000. But huge sums are won and lost via bets placed with unlicenced bookies using encrypted messaging apps. Demand for agile coursing dogs has led to animals being sold for fivefigure sums. The cross-bred dogs – similar to a greyhound – are pitted against each other in best-of-seven contests.
While hares can hit 45mph, they quickly tire, with fatal results.
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust said coursing is one of the “greatest conservation threats hares face”.
Policy director Dr Alastair Leake said: “Live streaming has enabled criminals to reach a global audience, generating much greater demand and driving the increase in this crime. Enormous