Farmer demands crackdown after confronting hare coursers

A farmer who confronted hare coursers trespassing on his family’s land has demanded more protection for rural communities and wildlife – and criticised the lack of action to tackle poaching.

James Mills caught the gang of illegal hare coursers in a field of winter wheat on Sunday (17 January). He filmed one of the group walking across the field to collect his dog that was standing over a dead hare.

*Thread* 1/7 Our Sunday’s now seem to be spent defending our land and the wildlife on it from Poachers breaking the law. Sadly today’s episode saw us fail and wildlife was killed illegally by a greyhound pic.twitter.com/dRMhoYwmof

— James Mills (@J_Mills87) January 17, 2021

The hare coursers then made a hasty exit from the land on the outskirts of York.

See also: What to do if you’re a victim of… hare coursing

Mr Mills told Farmers Weekly: “There were two carloads of men ranging from ages of probably 50 down to two lads both below the age of 10. There were four or five dogs – greyhounds and lurchers.

“I got there to see the lurcher setting about a number of hares in the field. Walkers from the village told us they were after deer before we got there.”

Mr Mills was on his uncle’s land, which is next to his own sheep and arable farm. He confronted the group before calling 999 and then tailing them as far as Doncaster, but police were unable to catch the cars.

The frustrated farmer said the police response needed to be better and tougher sanctions are needed to deter poachers.

“If we are there in the field, we are very much isolated and, if something were to happen physically, what choices do we have? We run the risk of criminal charges ourselves. These groups don’t have dogs taken off them or cars seized,” Mr Mills said.

North Yorkshire Police said enquiries are ongoing.

Insp Matt Hagen, from North Yorkshire Police’s rural taskforce, said: “About 80% of poaching incidents in North Yorkshire take place between September and February, and the area south of York is one of the worst hit.

“We know that many offenders travel there from outside North Yorkshire, which is why we’ve increased patrols on key routes so we can respond swiftly to any reports.

“We also have networks of rural watch volunteers, who can call in any suspicious activity in real time. Thanks to CCTV and ANPR [automatic number plate recognition], we can often secure crucial evidence, meaning even if they are not stopped at the time, poachers can expect to receive formal community protection notices, breaches of which will be prosecuted.”

‘Police matter’

The government said it recognises the issues and distress that hare coursing causes for rural communities.

But it said enforcement of the Hunting Act 2004 is an operational matter for police, and it is for individual chief constables to determine how their resources are deployed.

A petition calling for stiffer sentences to deter hare coursers and poachers has more than 11,300 signatures.

It comes amid growing concern following a reported increase in the number of hare-coursing incidents during recent months.