Task Force responds to hare coursing reports and seizes dogs & vehicles

The Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force, with support from neighbourhoods policing, have been responding to recent reports of hare coursing.

On the evening of 27 February the Task Force were patrolling throughout the county when two calls came in regarding suspected hare coursing.

The first was in the Preston Candover area, where the team were assisted by officers from Basingstoke, and air support from the NPAS helicopter. The suspected coursers fled the area on police arrival, leaving behind a dog which was subsequently seized by police.

The second incident that night occurred near Odiham, where it was suspected that individuals were trespassing on land to course, however they had already left once Task Force officers got to the scene.

In the early hours of the following morning, a report of coursing came in for the Bentley area. The suspects left a lurcher type dog abandoned at the location, which was subsequently taken to a vet. Police have been following up enquiries on this.

Later in the afternoon on 28 February, Task Force officers attended land in East Worldham after concerns were raised around coursing in the area. No offences were confirmed, and the landowner had asked some individuals with dogs to leave the area, which they did. That night, the Task Force returned to the same area of the county with further reports of suspected coursers on the land, however no one was present when police arrived and conducted searches of the surrounding area.

Earlier in the month, a Subaru Legacy was seized by the Task Force after it was abandoned on private land near Dummer.

It is suspected that the occupants were involved in hare coursing on the evening of 18 February before the vehicle became stuck, and the occupants left the area on foot accompanied by dogs.

If you see abandoned vehicles on farmland, or suspicious people with vehicles or dogs, please report this to police.

On Tuesday 10 March, police located an abandoned van with damage and a dog cage in the rear, which is suspected of potentially being linked to coursing in the Ropley area.

Officers will continue to patrol the vast rural spaces of the county, respond to any calls for service that come in, seize dogs and vehicles linked to poachers, and conduct proactive stops of any suspicious individuals or vehicles in the countryside.

We encourage people impacted by rural crime, including coursing and poaching, to report incidents to us as they happen on 999.

If you have information about suspicious activity, or that you think might help our enquiries or patrols, you can submit this to us by calling 101 or using the report tool at www.hampshire.police.uk