Help prevent dog theft - and take your rod licence when you go fishing!

At the talk about wildlife crime in February, one listener asked if anything was being done about dog thefts.  At that stage, PC Richard Salter could only say that there had been few if any reports of actual thefts.  But the Rural Crime team have now responded to widespread concern by setting up a DogWatch scheme, described here.  You can join this by first signing up to the Police Community Messaging Service here.

PCSO Matt Till and Angling Trust Voluntary Bailiff Frank Hall - taken prior to Covid-19.

You'll then hear about other developments in the fight against rural crime in general and wildlife crime in particular - there's a useful-sounding development also in efforts to stop fish poaching, which should please anglers. 

​Community Support Officers in Wiltshire, such as Neil Tunbull who was the other speaker at the February meeting, are the first in the country to be given the same power as  Police Officers to request a rod licence from people who are fishing. 

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard says, 'Rather than just accompanying the water bailiffs on their patrols, this change in power will now allow our PCSOs to actively work alongside them to tackle illegal fishing activity.'

​Again, the full story is here.

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