South Wales Central Conservative MS Andrew RT Davies has called on South Wales Police to deploy more resources to tackle hare coursing.
The illegal practice is banned on animal cruelty grounds. It also causes serious problems for farmers.
Trespassers who partake in hare coursing cause damage to farmers’ fields and crush crops. To gain access, they often cut cuts and flatten hedges.
Mr Davies said that while Vale farmers are full of praise for local officers, police bosses have not allocated sufficient resources to combat the problem.
He said tackling it should be the priority, pointing out this is where resources should be deployed, not on the Government’s proposed trail hunting ban.
Mr Davies said:
Hare coursing is a cruel practice and is rightly illegal.
Trespassers who partake in it cause huge problems across the Vale, from damaging crops to cutting gates to gain access.
Local officers work incredibly hard, but police bosses must designate more resources to tackle the problem. With the police precept set to rise by an inflation-busting amount, there really is no excuse.
No animals are killed in trail hunting. In hare coursing, by contrast, they certainly are.
If it really cared about animal welfare, the Government would prioritise stamping out cruel hare coursing over its spiteful trail hunting ban.
ENDS
Comments are closed