We are treating England and Wales as one because the legal system is the same for both countries although Wales has the ability to change some wildlife laws should it wish to do so.

A major problem within England and Wales is hunting with dogs. It is covered by a number of statutes and principally targets three offences; hare coursing, badger baiting and fox hunting. The response and effectiveness of enforcement in these three areas will be briefly considered.

Hare coursing is the hunting of brown hares with dogs for ‘fun’ and often involves considerable wagers. It is generally carried out by individuals who travel considerable distances to reach stubble fields ideal for their activities. The actual pursuit of the hare does not usually last long so swift police action is necessary to catch offfenders in the act. Apart from the cruelty and illegality of coursing the perpetrators often cause damage to gates and fields, are involved in theft from farms and surrounding premises and can be extremely violent if challenged. Because of this there is a strong reaction against this crime and reports to the police are high. Both the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the Countryside Alliance (CA) are keen to have coursing stopped. However there is a marked reluctance (see previous blog) to have the legislation against hunting with dogs strengthened as this would potentially impact upon fox hunts which the CA wants legalised. Their attempts to have an act of Parliament from the 1830’s updated are frankly bizarre. Overall the police response to hare coursing is reasonably good. Given the number of reports received they cannot respond successfully to every one but overall the response and success rate is similar to that of other offences in the same category of severity.

Badger baiting is the use of dogs to fight badgers and is of epidemic proportions in the UK. Perpetrators are less visible, often operating in woodland at a distance from the nearest road. They are small interlinked groups and frequently use the internet to organise or discuss their activities. This is a much harder offence to detect. Reports are less frequent because of the diffficulty in spotting the offence but also because there is a lack of sympathy for badgers in some parts of the ‘land management community’ and indeed some cases of badger baiting involve members of it. Uniformed constables are not suitably equipped, trained or supported to deal with the complexities of such offences. In particular the intelligence that is essential for effective action is often not available to them. However joint actions with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), whose Special Operations Unit specialises in badger baiting cases, have been very successful.

Fox hunting is a very diferent matter. Although it is now illegal many formal hunts continue to exist and now operate legally as ‘trail’ hunts, In theory this means that an artificial trail is laid prior to the hounds being released and any encounter with a fox is entirely accidental. Recent revelations following the release of Zoom meetings of the Hunting Office, together with hunts crossing gardens, nature reserves, main roads and railway lines have given cause for concern about the reality of ‘trail’ hunting. Whilst some of these matters are now the subject of legal action it is certainly the case that ‘trail’ hunts are contentious and that complaints against them are far fewer and receive little support from either the NFU or CA.

In future posts we will look at the enforcement aspect of other wildlife crimes and also at the effectiveness of prosecution.