On Thursday 21 November this year, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary representatives met with 17 other UK police forces as part of a national rollout of our Humane Animal Dispatch (HAD) volunteer scheme.

HADs are called out by the force control room 24/7, 365 days a year, to reports of injured deer which have been involved in collisions on Hampshire's roads. 

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary recognise their responsibilities, accountabilities and the importance of animal welfare under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Deploying a HAD volunteer means we are not allowing an animal to suffer unnecessarily. Dispatch of the animal is completed as effectively and humanely as possible. 

These volunteers are all experts in the field of deer management, and enable us to have the right resource in the right situation.

This year, up to 31 October, HADs had been deployed on 130 occasions to animal dispatch incidents across the county, compared to 21 deployments for firearms officers. This has enabled the Constabulary to make savings of up to £47,095, rising to £59,041 by the end of 2024.

The projections for 2025, factoring in the rise in deer population and anticipated HAD deployments, are that the Constabulary estimates it could save in excess of £100,000.

Click here to read more about what Inspector Stuart Ross, and some of our key stakeholders including The British Deer Society, have had to say about the scheme >>> https://www.hampshire.police.uk/news/hampshire/news/news/2024/december/hampshire--isle-of-wight-constabularys-humane-animal-dispatch-scheme-launched-to-police-forces-across-the-uk/