Wiltshire Police to relaunch scheme to kill injured animals

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 11:29 · Archive

Wiltshire Police are recruiting volunteers to humanely kill deer and other animals injured in vehicle crashes.

Wiltshire Police are relaunching the Humane Animal Dispatch scheme, which recruits qualified deerstalkers and volunteers to kill animals seriously injured in vehicle collisions. The force is currently interviewing candidates and aims to launch the scheme within months.

Traditionally, armed police officers have been charged with killing injured animals at crash sites. However, most of these officers are based in urban areas and are often diverted to higher priority emergencies, leaving wildlife to suffer at the roadside following accidents. An estimated 40,000 to 74,000 deer-vehicle collisions take place across Britain each year, with numbers rising as deer populations expand into urban areas.

The HAD scheme has been evaluated by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary since January 2023. Inspector Stuart Ross of Hampshire and Isle of Wight police, who works with about 50 volunteers, told The Times: "Our default is to use our volunteer HAD scheme rather than utilising trained firearms officers." The model is expanding across police forces to address the issue of injured animals being left suffering at roadsides.

The relaunching of the scheme in Wiltshire comes as the force seeks to recruit a team of volunteers to respond to injured animals at crash sites more efficiently than armed officers can.

How it is being reported

• Police plan to relaunch scheme to kill animals injured in crashesWiltshire Police are set to "re-launch" a new scheme that will see volunteers recruited to kill deer and other animals.Gazette & Herald · 21 Oct, 10:30
• Police plan to relaunch scheme to kill animals injured in crashesWiltshire Police are set to "re-launch" a new scheme that will see volunteers recruited to kill deer and other animals.Wiltshire Times · 20 Oct, 15:30
• Police plan to relaunch scheme to kill animals injured in crashesWiltshire Police are set to "re-launch" a new scheme that will see volunteers recruited to kill deer and other animals.Swindon Advertiser · 20 Oct, 15:30

In this story: Wiltshire Police · Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary · Thames Valley Police · Stuart Ross

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