Hare Coursing Bill

Peter Gibson Excerpts

Friday 21st January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

It is a privilege to speak in the debate. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Richard Fuller) for his private Member’s Bill.

The cruelty of hare coursing does not stop with wild animals. The dogs used in it face abuse of their own; they are often left for dead once their coursing days are over, when they have been exhausted and are of no use to the criminals who engage in that barbaric crime. I would be bereft without my 10-year-old Jack Russell Clemmie, my eight-year-old Labrador Peppy and my six-year-old Labrador Ebony. I know that people up and down our country—our nation of dog lovers—would be appalled at the disgusting treatment that animals face at the hands of those criminals.

We have recently made great strides in strengthening animal welfare legislation. Last year, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Chris Loder), was expertly guided on to the statute book. It increases the prison time for those who cruelly mistreat animals from six months to five years. I am also pleased to see the Government supporting the Animals (Penalty Notices) Bill, promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), and hope to see it added to the statute book. It will create a system of financial penalties of up to £5,000 for animal health and welfare offences.

Introducing tougher sentences for those who engage in the act of hare coursing will further strengthen the United Kingdom’s exceptional record on animal welfare and protection. I am pleased that the Bill will finally present would-be offenders with a real deterrent. In amending the Game Laws (Amendment) Act 1960, it will remedy the current situation and ensure that the penalty for engaging in hare coursing is no longer just a paltry fine: for the first time, those convicted could also face up to six months in prison.

The Bill will also solve the issue of high kennelling costs for the police by allowing them to recover on conviction the cost of kennelling a dog that has been seized, so they will no longer face a financial barrier to prosecution. It will not only enable them to remove dogs essential to hare coursing and protect them for abuse at the hands of the coursers, but add another deterrent for would-be offenders.

The Bill will build on the animal welfare advances that the UK has already made and will crack down a horrific crime that has blighted rural communities for too long. It will modernise the legislation, giving police the tools they need to tackle the problem and providing a real deterrent for those who would engage in coursing. Once again, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire on his efforts to guide it through Parliament; I hope that it will quickly move through its stages of scrutiny and be added to our statute book. I look forward to seeing that happen in the coming months—best of luck.