Alert! Poaching & criminal damage on Welsh Farms
A spate of poaching and associated criminal damage on farms in South Wales this week has led to a call for landowners to report incidents - or suspected incidents - and report suspicious activity to the police
Police and CLA Cymru have called on farmers and land managers to be alert and report instances of crime - or suspected instances of crime - to police.
It’s vital that police know that crime has taken place – not only to gather physical evidence but also to inform investigations of crime patterns in time and geography. Critically, reporting incidents builds the case for further rural policing resource.
Hare coursing is relatively rare in Wales, but it can and does happen. Other forms of wildlife crime do take place, often associated with damage to crops, livestock, fencing, gates and earthworks.
Working with affected members, we are liaising with police to do everything possible to assist their investigation - but also to alert and advise other members to the issue.
We urge members not only to report crime to police, but let us know in order that we can encourage and help police deal with the crime
A lobbying victory for the CLA, there are developments to clamp down further on hare coursing and other wildlife crimes.You can read more about this here. You can read our latest update about the CLA's work on this here.
All four Welsh police forces have rural crime units, now – and they are building the necessary specialist expertise to tackle a range of issues. Earlier this year we supported the Welsh Government’s appointment of a pilot Rural Crime Coordinator. You can read our report of an interview with this appointee here.