CLA warns of hare coursing surge as harvest opens fields

Members of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) targeted by coursers have been hit an average of 26 times over the past five years, with some reporting more than 100 incidents, according to research the association published this summer. The warning follows National Rural Crime Action Week, which ran from 8 to 11 September.

How bad is the hare coursing problem?

In the CLA’s survey of its members, 96% of respondents said they were aware of illegal coursing in their local area and 89% had personal experience of it affecting their own farm or rural business.

The human cost sits behind those figures. More than half of respondents had received threats of violence or other warnings from coursers, 70% reported dead animals left on or around their land as intimidation, and four in five had spent money on security, in many cases running to thousands of pounds.

Writing for the association, the CLA’s Natalie Oakes said coursing is “not a minor nuisance, nor simply trespass, but an organised criminal activity that damages land, threatens livelihoods and intimidates people”.

What can the courts now do to coursers?

Measures secured through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 mean anyone caught coursing faces an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison, alongside specific offences of trespassing with the intention of using a dog to search for or pursue a hare, and of being equipped to do so. Courts can disqualify offenders from keeping dogs and order them to pay police kennelling costs.

New sentencing guidelines for coursing offences came into force in England and Wales on 1 June this year, directing courts to weigh aggravating factors such as planning, intimidation, financial gain and the use of social media to promote offending. Police forces share intelligence across borders through Operation Galileo, the national operation against coursing.

What should land managers do this autumn?

The association’s message is that every incident must be reported, because each report builds the intelligence picture police need to target hotspots and identify repeat offenders. Anyone witnessing coursing in progress should call 999 and avoid confronting those involved; incidents already over should go to 101 or the force’s online reporting route, with vehicle registrations, descriptions, direction of travel, numbers of people and dogs, and precise locations, using tools such as What3Words where available.