POACHING - ACROSS MANY AREAS OF DORSET

POACHING - ACROSS MANY AREAS OF DORSET

Hello and Happy New Year from the Dorset Police Rural Crime Team!    I hope frozen field&farm pipes hasn't been a problem. It seems we in Dorset may just escape the worst of the weather.  

Unfortunately the rural criminals and poachers have still been active over the holiday period.    Weve had reports of poaching in Sixpenny Handley, Wareham, Holworth, Cerne Abbas and Milborne St Andrew. 

Poaching not only involves deliberate cruelty to animals, but we know that those who poach are often linked to wider crime networks involved in theft, burglary, criminal damage, violence and anti-social behaviour.

The groups involved are a scourge across the Dorset countryside, which is why we are urging people to report crime as well as suspicious activity to police so our we can take action.  Farmers or gamekeepers who intervene in poaching or hare coursing may face intimidation through threats of violence.

We are asking people in rural areas to be on the look out for suspicious people or vehicles on farmland, including individuals engaging in lamping, and to report this to police. Lamping sees individuals using high powered lights to locate and kill wildlife on private land using vehicles after dark.  Deer are a particular target at this time of year. 

Your safety is the priority, so please do not approach these individuals. Instead, dial 999.      If you have seen people using or carrying catapults in rural areas or places where you know there is an abundance of wildlife and wild birds please let us know.