![\""Close\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2022\/01\/Greyhound_chasing_hare-9a8dd9f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C393"\" "\\"\"Waterloo\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Hare coursing was banned in 2004 but paltry fines of a few hundred pounds based on laws nearly two centuries old have proved no deterrent. Coursers spread intimidation in isolated rural areas, threatening anyone who might report them and creating thousands of pounds of damage to crops, gates and fences with off-road vehicles.<\/p>\n
Magnificent brown hares can be seen \u2018boxing\u2019 in spring \u2013 but many are hunted by dogs for the \u2018sport\u2019 of hare coursing<\/p>\n Related content:<\/p>\n Getty<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> The current coursing \u2018season\u2019 is about to end and for those involved in this sickening racket, it could be their last big fling. Animal welfare groups, landowners, farmers and police have welcomed new, much stricter penalties, which, at the time of writing, should be in place when the next one starts this autumn. They include the possibilities of:<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is that legislation has not kept pace with the impact on victims,\u201d says Chief Inspector Phil Vickers, who leads for rural crime in Lincolnshire, one of the coursing hotspots. \u201cThese new powers will make the difference \u2013 they will begin to turn the tide in favour of rural communities, the police and the brown hare. If we can take the best dogs out of hare coursing, we start to kill the \u2018sport\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cGambling makes it worthwhile [for coursers] but what really bothers them is when we seize their dogs. Not every force does that but I\u2019d like to see it everywhere, together with applying for kennelling costs to be added to convictions. It\u2019s not uncommon for police to pay \u00a32,000-3,000 in costs while a dog owner awaits trial.\u201d<\/p>\n Hitting coursers where it hurts, in their wallets and with the threat of jail, is the key. Other developments are Operation Galileo, in which 30 police forces in areas where the crime is prevalent share information, and the increased use of camera drones to catch them in action. With drone footage the police don\u2019t need evidence from witnesses \u2013 but they still need tip-offs about where to send drones and officers.<\/p>\n Brown hares are in decline and though shooting them is legal, tearing them apart with dogs is not. Hopefully the new laws will curtail this savage practice while making the countryside safer.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By John Craven Published: Thursday, 10 March 2022 at 12:00 am \u2018Mad\u2019 March is the best time to watch of one of nature\u2019s most spectacular displays \u2013 brown hares \u2018boxing\u2019 each other in the open fields of eastern Britain. It\u2019s their breeding season, during which females turn on their hind legs and give males a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":14932,"template":"","categories":[1,27,57],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-scaled.jpg",2560,1709,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-768x513.jpg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-1024x684.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-1536x1026.jpg",1536,1026,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/03\/john-craven-why-hare-coursing-has-no-place-in-our-countryside-2048x1367.jpg",2048,1367,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By John Craven Published: Thursday, 10 March 2022 at 12:00 am \u2018Mad\u2019 March is the best time to watch of one of nature\u2019s most spectacular displays \u2013 brown hares \u2018boxing\u2019 each other in the open fields of eastern Britain. It\u2019s their breeding season, during which females turn on their hind legs and give males a…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/14931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""Boxing\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2022\/03\/Boxing-hares-4c4072c.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Boxing\\"")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>![\""Silhouettes\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/22\/2022\/01\/silhouette_hare_coursing-2015988.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C414"\" "\\"\"Waterloo\\"")
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