Deer poachers have threatened to harm livestock and damage property if their activities are reported to the police, a Fife farmer has claimed.
John Paul, who operates three farms in the Leslie area, has described deer coursers as “terrorists” and says that the police seem unable to do anything to tackle the problem.
Mr Paul contacted The Courier after it was revealed that criminals are using trained dogs to kill wild deer before butchering the animal and selling the meat door-to-door.
He said that efforts to engage with the poachers had seen threats made against animals and farm property and was frustrated about what he believes is a lack of action to bring those responsible to justice.
“The police don’t seem able to do anything,” said Mr Paul. “They say that they’re doing everything that they can but that they need physical evidence and that is hard to get.
“The Scottish SPCA say they want people to take details but we’ve been doing that for years and nothing happens.”
On Wednesday, The Courier reported how Fife deer are being illegally hunted by small groups for both sport and business.
Trained dogs are being used by these groups to chase the wild animals and puncture their throats.
The problem has been noted throughout Fife, although Leslie, Cardenden, Oakley and Saline are thought to be particular hot spots.
Mr Paul has in the region of 500 cattle and 1,000 sheep in fields across the Lomond Hills area. He said that there was evidence of illegal activity across the landscape and that he and members of the farming community had witnessed coursing take place.
He said that any engagement with poachers had often resulted in threats being made against farm property and livestock.
“It is terrorism,” continued Mr Paul. “To round up all the sheep and cattle would take me three to four hours.
“They have nothing to lose and we’ve got everything to lose. The Lomonds are a massive area so people can easily go up there and not be seen.”
Mr Paul says that the same criminals are also poaching hares and ferrets from the local countryside, but stressed that the use of dogs was particularly unwelcome.
“A lot of these people are ferreting as well, like a lot of young people do, but when they go coursing with dogs, that is different,” he added.
PC Ian Laing, wildlife crime officer for Police Scotland in Fife, told The Courier that deer poaching offences were often hard to detect, with the carcass of the animal often removed from the scene of the crime.
The animal is then butchered in a bathtub before the meat is taken around the doors and sold.
Because of the nature of the crime, the number of deer being illegally hunted every year is hard to determine, although it is thought to be in the hundreds.
However, while there appears to be a real problem with poaching in Fife, the issue does not appear to be particularly prominent in the Forth Valley and Central areas.
PC Malcolm O’May, wildlife crime officer for the region, said: “Since the turn of the year we’ve had three or four reports to us, which is not a lot.”