The UK is finally clamping down on hare coursing gangs
Once upon a time, hare coursing was a respectable sport, practised by Royals and other members of the gentry. The Forest Laws, imposed after the Norman Conquest, were introduced to ensure that only the nobility could own greyhounds which is why lurchers – crossbreeds between a sighthound and another working dog – became both popular, and known as ‘poachers’ dogs’. But in 2005 the Hunting Act arrived – changing everything. In 2019, I wrote in these pages about the current illegal hare coursing occurring across the country: ‘It was the Hunting Act that drove coursing underground, and at that point the rules of the game changed. In formal coursing events, a pair
