Police report alarming rise in hare coursing

'Warm weather' contributing to spike in illegal bloodsport.

Police are reporting that warm weather is contributing to a spike in hare coursing incidents.

Hare coursing is a cruel and illegal bloodsport that involves the pursuit of hares with greyhounds as opposed to the harriers, beagles or bassets involved in hare hunting. It has been illegal since the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004.

This barbaric 'sport' is often carried out for gambling purposes. Videos of greyhounds chasing hares are often used by gangs to make money from soliciting bets.

Hare coursing typically involves two greyhounds. One particularly gruesome aspect of the practice is that it often results in a macabre tug of war, as the two dogs fight over the hare's mutilated body.

In August 2022, Defra announced tougher sentencing for hare coursing, which was introduced as a result of the 2022 Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act.

Nowhere to hide

Hare coursing often takes place after crops have been harvested, as the lack of vegetation leaves hares vulnerable without many places to hide.

Police Scotland told the BBC:

"This year's warm summer and early harvest have led to increased reports of hare coursing in recent weeks."

Some of the areas where hare coursing is known to take place are Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk.

25 people charged with hare coursing

At the end of July, Cambridgeshire Police charged 25 of an initial 43 people arrested for taking part in hare coursing on the Cambridgeshire Fens in January 2025. A spokesperson for the police force apologised for what he called their "failure" to deal with rural crime.

Farmers in Cambridgeshire had complained after their fields and crops were torn up by hunting greyhounds.

The police operation also involved forces from Northampton, the West Midlands and Essex, as well as the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU).

In a separate case in May 2025, two men were handed Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) and fines after being convicted of taking part in hare coursing in March 2023.

Two other men arrested in the same incident were sentenced to driving bans, fines and the seizure of their car and dogs back in December 2023, but Edward Connors and Jerry Connors failed to attend court. Warrants were issued for their arrest, leading them to eventually be brought before Lincoln Magistrates' Court on 29 May this year.

The pair were both charged with 'hunting with dogs' and 'trespassing with intent to pursue hares'. The court issued them with a CBO "prohibiting them from being in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire or Leicestershire with or in the company of anyone with dogs of any breed. Also, not to be in any of the five counties with any instruments to be used for poaching either during the day or night."

The pair were ordered to pay court costs, a fine and a victim surcharge of over £6k (Protect the Wild assumes that the victim surcharge won't be going to the hares!).

Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash

Hare persecution

Hare numbers in the UK are dwindling, and wild hares are now a relatively rare sight. There used to be an estimated four million hares in Britain, but these numbers have now dropped to approximately 700,000. That's a massive 80% decline in numbers. On top of hare coursing, hares don't have a protected breeding season, meaning they can legally be shot all year round.

As well as hare coursing and shooting, hares are often pursued by hunts using beagle and basset packs. Protect the Wild’s recent report, ‘The True Face of Hunting with Hounds’ reports that the rate of wildlife persecution by beagle and basset packs surpasses even fox hunts. Hunt monitors and sab groups witnessed 26 incidents of hare hunting across 15 meets, which makes a massive 1.73 incidents per meet.

At Protect the Wild we want to see an end to the persecution of hares. We need a workable ban on the hunting of mammals with hounds. Please sign our petition for a proper ban on all forms of hunting here.

• Read this analysis of police bias in investigating hare coursing by Protect the Wild's Glen Black.

• Police operations targeting hare coursing, like Operation Galileo, are underway across the UK to combat this illegal activity. These operations involve multiple police forces working together to share intelligence, seize vehicles and dogs, and prosecute offenders. The public can play a role by reporting incidents to 999 during live events and providing vehicle descriptions and number plates. For more information see our Protectors of the Wild page on Hare Coursing and the Law.

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