Hampshire: Police investigating after dozens of animal carcasses were dumped outside shops

People in a sleepy Hampshire village said it was “shocking” that dozens of animal carcasses were strewn outside a shop.

WARNING: This story contains images and descriptions that readers may find distressing

A member of staff who attended the Broughton Community Store opening early on Friday morning discovered the carcasses of around 50 hares.

Mike Hensman, the store’s treasurer, told Sky News: “It was a complete mess, there were dead hares all the way through here, it was horrific.”

“There was a dead raptor and bird of prey on the door and an owl tattooed on the door handle. There was blood everywhere.”

He described the shock of staff and villagers having to remove the remains.

“We cleaned everything up, had the police come in and had to wash out all the windows and throw everything away.

“We brought in a local farmer to dispose of all the dead hares and we just carried on with our business because that’s what you do in the community. We serve the community. We have to keep going.”

He believes the store was targeted because the entrance was “hidden.”

“You wouldn’t be able to do that in a shop on the high street because there would be cars going by. It’s secluded so someone could take a car in here and have a party with some dead rabbits. It’s ridiculous.

“It creates entertainment for them and it creates problems for us… It could be anywhere.”

This is not the first time the area has been targeted. Last month carcasses of pheasants, chickens and hares were dumped outside Albridge Primary School, about six miles from Broughton.

Local wildlife and conservation manager Tony Lowry keeps photos of the dead hare that was dumped on a road near Andover about 18 months ago. He believes rival criminal gangs from outside the area are responsible.

“They just throw them away and they do it for effect because someone is going to find them and they know it’s going to cause outrage and what they’re doing is outrageous,” he said.

He believes it was driven by gambling: “Money, gambling between groups, that’s basically what it’s about… How many animals are they going to kill in a night, how big of an animal are they?

“We’ve had instances of deer having their ears chopped off to prove that they actually got them and then took them away. We’re finding heaps of animals without ears, which we’ve done in the past. It’s horrific.”

“I’m a country boy and I’m a gamekeeper so my job does involve killing, but it’s just killing for no reason.”

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Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, told Sky News that poachers have been harming rural communities across the country for decades.

He said the worst cases were in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire but it would happen “anywhere there are hares”.

“There seems to be a general disregard for the law by a section of society, whether it’s poaching or stealing, that does pose a really significant threat to rural communities,” he said.

“It’s on the fringes of organized crime, if you will, and it’s part of their leisure activities.”

But he said it was difficult to call the police.

“For some people involved in poaching, a conviction or prosecution for hare poaching is seen as a badge of honour, you know, they really don’t care about criminal law,” he said.

Hampshire Police are investigating the incident at Broughton. Local Conservative MP Alison Johnston said forces across the country needed to focus more on rural crime.

“I would like more police action. I would like more focus on the type of rural crime we are experiencing,” she told Sky News.

“Sadly, I think it’s a matter of priorities. There are so many burglaries in urban areas and I think sometimes rural crime gets pushed aside.”

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police said the animals had been collected and inquiries were ongoing.

Police are trying to identify the owner of a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara.