Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary Honoured with Innovator for Animal Welfare Award at RSPCA PawPrints 2025
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has been recognised nationally for its pioneering Humane Animal Dispatch (HAD) volunteer scheme, winning the Innovator for Animal Welfare Award at the RSPCA PawPrints Awards 2025.
The ceremony, held on Thursday 13 November at The Met Hotel in Leeds, celebrates public bodies and partners that demonstrate exceptional commitment to protecting and promoting animal welfare. Inspector Stu Ross and Country Watch Rural Crime Task Force Co-ordinator Hazel Cross attended the event to accept the award, which acknowledges their leadership in developing and running the HAD initiative.
The scheme deploys trained civilian volunteers around the clock to attend reports of injured deer involved in road collisions across Hampshire. By ensuring swift, expert intervention, the force says it is preventing unnecessary suffering while freeing up police firearms officers for other policing demands.
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary emphasised its commitment to animal welfare under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, stating that the HAD scheme ensures “the dispatch of the animal is completed as effectively and humanely as possible” by experts in deer management.
Figures show that in 2023 and 2024, volunteers were deployed 288 times to dispatch injured animals—compared to 72 callouts for firearms officers—saving the force an estimated £108,460.
Inspector Stu Ross 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. 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.”
He added:
“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.”
Ross also welcomed backing from national organisations, saying:
“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.”
Chief Constable Alexis Boon praised the team’s achievement, stating:
“I am incredibly proud that this ground-breaking scheme 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.”
He continued:
“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 is expected to roll out nationally as more police forces look to adopt the Hampshire model. The constabulary is actively recruiting new volunteers and encourages interested local residents to get in touch.
Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones also welcomed the recognition:
“The pioneering HAD scheme has proved hugely successful in helping ease the suffering of animals injured on our roads and for making sure welfare is a top priority. It also ensures officers are freed up to deal with frontline policing, especially in rural areas, while confident the animal is in the best possible hands. I’m thrilled the scheme, and all those involved, has got the recognition it rightly deserves.”
Those interested in volunteering for the Humane Animal Dispatch team in Hampshire can contact the constabulary via: humaneanimaldispatch@hampshire.police.uk.