The police arrested three men in Mill, Heesch and Wanroij yesterday. They are suspected of a raid in the countryside near the Brabant village of Mill, last October. Four poachers were also arrested after a chase.
The police received reports of possible poaching last fall, Omroep Brabant reports. The story was that poachers used special light boxes to scour the pastures for wildlife.
When they tracked animals, the poachers sent their hunting dogs to them. They chased the game and then killed the animals “in a horrific way”, according to the police. There are police photos showing hares bitten and mauled by greyhounds.
Frontal collision
During a nighttime check on October 17, police officers and forest rangers saw two suspicious cars driving through the woods. When the police gave a stop sign, one of those cars took off. During the chase, the getaway car collided head-on with a forest ranger’s car. A 55-year-old man from Den Bosch and a 62-year-old man from Helmond were arrested, despite considerable resistance. Fifteen dead hares with bite and laceration wounds were found in their car.
The police meanwhile went after the second car, which ended up in a dry ditch after a short chase. The two occupants from Eindhoven (24 and 34 years old) were arrested.
Further police investigation yesterday led to the arrest of a 45-year-old man from Mill, a 46-year-old resident of Heesch and a 44-year-old man from Wanroij.
National Inspection Service
Simultaneously with the arrest, inspectors from the National Animal Protection Inspectorate checked compliance with the Animals Act and the Nature Protection Act.
The seven suspects are not only suspected of violating those laws. They would also be guilty of ignoring the stop sign, resisting and dangerous driving.
Six greyhounds have been seized.
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