Former Port Vale loanee receives fine for hare coursing
Former Port Vale loan striker Kian Harratt has been fined for hare coursing, for an offence committed while he was on loan with the Valiants.
Harratt, who scored in Vale’s 3-0 play-off final win over Mansfield Town, played twenty times for the club, scoring five times, during his spell on loan last season. The striker moved on to Bradford City on loan this season.
Harratt appeared at Beverley Magistrates’ Court on 26 October. He and two others were convicted after being caught on farmland in the Wressle area of the region on 3 April. Harratt, aged 20, of Craven Road, Pontefract, was fined £830 and ordered to pay £150 in costs, with a victim surcharge of £83.
His loan club, Bradford City said he would not be involved in this weekend’s FA Cup tie against Harrogate Town.
“It wasn’t something that we were aware of,” Bradford manager Mark Hughes told the media. “We obviously are now but clearly it’s an issue that we have to allow Kian’s parent club (Huddersfield Town) to address.”
“It’s out there and something has happened. We just need the clarity from his parent club and once they give us some we can act.”
Rural Task Force Sergeant Kevin Jones said: “This conviction shows that the Rural Task Force will deal strongly with those offenders that visit our Force area to commit hare coursing offences.
“We will not tolerate the barbaric act of hare coursing, not only causing unimaginable suffering to our wildlife but also causing issues for local landowners who are often the subject of antisocial behaviour and damage to their land and property.”
What is hare coursing?
Traditionally, coursing happens in the autumn after crops have been harvested and continues until the spring. Dogs – usually greyhounds, lurchers or salukis – are kept on a lead that can be easily released.
Coursers will walk along fields to frighten the hare into the open. They then release their dogs to give chase and dogs are tested on their ability to follow the hare as it tries to escape.
A bet is made on which dog will catch the hare first with large sums of money often changing hands. Since 2005, hare coursing has been illegal throughout the UK.