New fostering plan for hare coursing dogs in Lincolnshire
Families in South Holland could soon have the chance to look after dogs taken from hare coursers under plans being finalised by Lincolnshire Police.
A dog "fostering" scheme where members of the public provide a temporary home for greyhounds, whippets and crossbreeds used in the illegal activity is at the development stage, according to the county force's lead on rural crime.
Superintendent Phil Vickers, who is heading up the Operation Galileo anti-hare coursing, explained that the scheme would allow money spent by the force on kennel costs to be on other areas of policing.
He said: "My predecessors, Mark Housley and Jim Tyner, both made the decision that they wanted to make use of the tactic of seizing dogs.
"I believe that was the single biggest factor in the 30 per cent fall in the number of hare coursing incident last year.
"But there's a cost, one which we're quite to happy to bear, and it's not cheap to use kennels that are outside the county.
"If we're spending money on kennelling, we're not spending it on other things and, speaking to members of the public, everybody is interested in the welfare of the dogs that are seized."
Mr Vickers said that "sensible safeguards" would be built into the scheme whereby "aggressive and difficult-to-handle" dogs would continue to be kept in kennels.
Dogs seized by police officers as part of the Operation Galileo offensive against hare coursing in South Holland and the Deepings could soon be given temporary homes with the public as part of a new 'fostering; scheme. Photo supplied by Lincolnshire Police. (4249138)
He added: "We're scoping out a scheme where members of the public can volunteer to support us by providing a temporary home for seized dogs.
"They wouldn't be expected to share the additional cost and there would be sensible safeguards in place whereby if a dog shows signs of being aggressive or difficult to handle, we wouldn't put it in the fostering scheme and we'll always end up using kennels.
"But there are people who have the skills and the capability of looking after these dogs really, really well and we may identify half a dozen members of the public who are prepared to look after dogs for a period of a few weeks or months.
"It's one way how the community can support us in Operation Galileo, instead of using commercial kennels, some of which allow us to pay a reduced rate."
Dogs seized by police officers as part of the Operation Galileo offensive against hare coursing in South Holland and the Deepings could soon be given temporary homes with the public as part of a new 'fostering; scheme. Photo supplied by Lincolnshire Police. (4249134)