Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has been awarded for its innovative Humane Animal Dispatch (HAD) volunteer scheme at a national awards ceremony hosted by the RSPCA.
The RSPCA Pawprints Awards 2025 took place at The Met Hotel in Leeds on Thursday (13th November), celebrating local authorities, public bodies, and partners that go the extra mile to protect and promote animal welfare.
Inspector Stu Ross and Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force Co-ordinator Hazel Cross were recognised for their efforts in creating and running the HAD scheme, which sees civilian volunteers 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.
They both attended the event, where they picked up the Innovator for Animal Welfare Award.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary recognises its 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.
In 2023 and 2024 combined, HADs were deployed on 288 occasions to animal dispatch incidents across the county, compared to 72 deployments for firearms officers in the same 2-year period. This enabled the Constabulary to make savings of up to £108,460.
Inspector Stu Ross, who previously worked as a firearms officer on the Isle of Wight, said:
“We are very pleased that the Constabulary has been recognised on a national scale by the RSPCA, who are a key animal welfare partner of ours.
Article continues below this advertisement “The support our HAD volunteers provide to policing at the roadside is phenomenal – not only are they experts in their field, ensuring that animals do not suffer unnecessarily in the aftermath of a collision, but their deployment ensures other police resources can direct their focus elsewhere.
“Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary pioneered the police-led scheme more than 15 years ago. At that time, it operated as a local agreement with gamekeepers, farmers, deerstalkers and deer managers from rural communities before it was re-developed in 2022 into its current format.
“Last year we launched our scheme nationally to an audience of police colleagues around the country, and we are pleased that other forces have already recognised the scheme as best practice and are exploring adopting it in their area.
“Our scheme has also had the backing from leading deer industry and animal welfare organisations, and other stakeholders, such as The British Deer Society, the RSPCA, the British Animal Rescue and Trauma Care Association (BARTA), and the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC).
“We currently have 49 people on our HAD team and are actively recruiting so hope to see this increase to 60 by next spring.”
Congratulating the team, Chief Constable Alexis Boon said:
“I am incredibly proud that this ground-breaking scheme and has been nationally recognised in this way.
“I have seen the hard work and dedication that Inspector Ross, Hazel Cross and the rest of the Country Watch Rural Crime Taskforce, have put into this project that has become best practice for forces up and down the country.
“They identified a problem and developed an innovative way to change the way these incidents are dealt with, not only to help ease the suffering of the animals, but also to help ensure our officers are doing what they do best, proactively tackling crime and bringing criminals to justice.
“My thanks also goes to the team of committed volunteers who have made this scheme possible.”
Bespoke HAD training will become available across the UK as police forces begin to adopt the Hampshire volunteer HAD scheme in support of a national collaboration. For those wanting to become a HAD volunteer in Hampshire, contact [email protected].
