Cruel hare coursers leave 22 dead animals at farm

"It's horrible. It's just pure animal cruelty," says a farmer in east Kent who found 22 dead hares laid out in rows in a field.

"Some of those hares would have been feeding their young which will now die as well."

The farmer, who we are calling Sarah, asked not be be named for fear of reprisals.

"The idea that animals are pursued for fun or for financial gain is disgusting," she added.

Hare coursing is the illegal pursuit of hares by dogs and is usually fuelled by gambling.

A gamekeeper, who also asked not to be identified, said it had been "going on for years" and was now "like an epidemic".

Warning: This story contains images of dead animals

Kent Police said farmers had the force's "absolute commitment", with a rural taskforce dedicated to tackling this issue.

Inspector Tom Mepstead added that during the second week of September, five vehicles linked to poaching and hare coursing had been seized.

Community protection warnings and notices were issued, an arrest was made and equipment, clothing and dogs were also seized.

Mepstead said farmers and landowners were included in briefings and would contact police with information.

Hare coursing is an ancient sport that has been illegal in the UK since 2005. Dogs such as greyhounds or lurchers are used to hunt hares, which the coursers usually scare out from the wild.

Points are awarded for the number of times the dogs force the hare to twist and turn as it runs - as well as for the kill.

The sport reached a peak of popularity in the 19th Century, but went underground after it was banned in the UK.

Sarah believes the 22 hares she found at her farm may have have been laid out on the ground to be photographed as trophies, but also as evidence of the number of kills that have been made.

"People hare course quite often as part of a betting group, a betting syndicate and even online betting," she said.

"It is a nasty type of crime that is constantly happening under our noses, but there doesn't seem to be enough repercussions for the people carrying it out."

A recent BBC investigation found a hidden world of highly organised illegal bloodsport events taking place across the country, often by lamplight in the dead of night, and kept secret by organised crime gangs using intimidation and violence.

There have been almost 9,000 reports of hare coursing across the UK in the past three years, according to police responses to Freedom of Information Act requests by the BBC.

Mepstead said successful dogs could be traded for "huge quantities of money".

The gamekeeper, who we are calling Keith, said a "notorious" hare courser had been caught by police with three hares in 2025.

Keith said: "The police officer said to him, 'We had reports that you had five hares'. He said, 'If I had five hares that dog would be worth about £25,000'.

"It's all about the money."

Mepstead said social media had been helping hare coursing to grow.

He said he was hearing from police in countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands about people from the UK who had been stopped by law enforcement in rural communities there.

A representative of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), who runs a cattle farm in Kent and also wishes not to be named, said hare coursers had threatened to shoot him when he confronted them on his land in 2025.

The BBC understands that a police investigation did not identify a suspect.

The NFU representative said the criminal activity could have a significant financial impact on arable farmers when vehicles damaged crops, but livestock could also be affected.

"If you get sheep let out and there's a ram with them or cows let out and there's a bull with them, it can be economic disaster if the cattle aren't in calf, the sheep aren't in lamb, the electric fencing unit is nicked.

"It has so many repercussions, it's just not pleasant," he added.

Kent Police said the incident at Sarah's farm had been investigated by Rural Task Force officers who recovered evidence and pursued all available lines of enquiry, but no arrests had been made.

Sarah said the number of hares on her farm had declined by 80% over the past 10 years. She, Keith and the NFU representative want to see rural police teams better resourced so officers can attend every 999 call.

The Home Office said Kent Police would receive up to £486.3m of funding in 2026-27, an increase of up to £23.5m compared to the previous year.

In a statement, it added: "We're taking strong action on rural crime, working closely with the police to deliver a new Rural and Wildlife Crime Strategy."