Police Humane Dispatch Volunteering

stuartp

Well-Known Member
I am guessing there must be some on here who already do this?

If so would you like to share your first hand experience?

There is a call for some additional volunteers in my area, I am considering it.
 
sounds like a thankless task to me....

+1 Having a call at 3am, waking up the house hold getting the cabinet open, starting the wagon......

Getting stopped on the way to the job because your vehicle shows up with firearms in the early hours of the morning.............
Waking up the house hold when you put the rifle back....only to get up at 6 to go to work...

Let them do it........

Tim.243
 
recently had need to stop at a deer/car accident, Munty hit by car (driver then buggered off!) and lying in middle of road trying to get up.called the Police and asked for a Deer Warden to attend, they said they would try, or would see if they could get an ARV to site.
I was prepared to deal with the Deer up to the point when the other involved people realised what that meant, then the problems started! short story I moved the Deer off the road, and kept it off the road until it went into shock (it had kept trying to run back into the road and could have easily caused another accident)
in the end one copper turned up and the deer went off with a couple of assistants from the local vets!
I have just had an email from BASC and it seems TVP is recruiting wardens.so maybe they didn't actually have any on that day. definitley a thankless task.
 
I tend to get called quite often, it is a thankless task but I prefer to think I am saving a Deer from suffering needlessly by attending as quick as I can.
My wife is a very understanding lady and I love her for it.
I have never been 'stopped on the way' or hassled by any bystanders once I explain the situation and feel that I am doing a worthwhile service to the Deer even tho I would prefer it not to be neccessary.
 
Indeed. So apart from the nay-sayers anyone actually been involved in it?

Hi Stuart

I have done it for a few years, and it can range from very easy, to horrendous.... Every call out is different, you need to be able to think on your feet, be diplomatic, organised, efficient, calm, in control, knowledgable in process, non judgmental..... most of all you need to be confident in yourself, and your ability to act under pressure when it counts...

Not every call out needs a firearm.... sometimes a knife is very effective ( dependant on the situation / animal )... Not every HAD operator needs a pistol, although a lot think they do.....

I do it because I can help, where others cannot, and because I care about deer management - in all its forms, including HAD.... Others here will have vastly more experience than me, so my comments are only as I see it and not attributable to others...

It does not get you more stalking, or slots on FAC. It does cost you money in the long run, and it does impact on your life to some extent... Is it worth it.... Yes, absolutely....

All the best.

Neil.
 
Indeed. So apart from the nay-sayers anyone actually been involved in it?

yes I have been involved as part of Hampshire Constabulary's humane dispatch team for about five years and before they had a scheme was called out by the local police, this work is done free of charge and varies from busy M ways and A roads to quiet country roads, the latter being easiest but the ones on the busy roads can be a bit scary if you get there before the police.
there are organisations that provide training for rta,s

atb

Tony
 
I am guessing there must be some on here who already do this?

If so would you like to share your first hand experience?

There is a call for some additional volunteers in my area, I am considering it.


What do you expect to get from doing it?
 
I would say you get what you want out of it....and that would take me back to my first reply.

Over the years I have stopped and despatched lots of rabbits with mixi, suffered quite a lot of abuse from passing traffic for doing it...
A Doe Muntjac got hit by a car early one Sunday morning as I was off ferreting, she had a broken back as the front ones worked but nothing from the back was moving.
A swift despatch from what was to hand in my works truck put her out of misery.
She would have laid there for a long time with out my intervention. How long for the Deer Police to turn up God knows!!

Many years ago when I worked as a dive instructor in Egypt a taxi ran over a bitch carrying one of her pups, the driver ran right over her so I found lump of paving slab and dispatched her with one blow to the head.

So just because I don't agree to being a Police Humane Volunteer, doesn't mean I will let something suffer...


Tim.243
 
Having completed an HAD course I would recommend that you do this before taking on the job. On the course there were many horror stories of the pitfalls and possible legal cosequences which can be encountered, there is alot more to it than just turning up and despatching an injured animal.
P.S. If you intend to use a firearm for despatch you need to have it conditioned for this.

Noah
 
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I have been doing humane despatch for several years and cannot imagine what the pitfalls are.
All it needs is common sense.
I would be interested to know what is taught on an HAD course but am not willing to splash out to somebody else teaching, what to me, is common sense.!
 
I have been doing humane despatch for several years and cannot imagine what the pitfalls are.
All it needs is common sense.
I would be interested to know what is taught on an HAD course but am not willing to splash out to somebody else teaching, what to me, is common sense.!

Hi EMcC
if you are experienced and do know it all, then clearly you will not benefit from a course.
I cannot speak for any other courses, but the Jelen course provides a certificate of training (unlike the BDS where you get a certificate of attendance for turning up) and is highly interactive throughout the day. It covers aspects beyond just RTA HAD including legislation as you would expect, and as we tend to have FEOs, licensing officers and individuals from many different backgrounds attending the courses, the discussions and group work are always interesting with shared experiences and different ways of dealing with the problems that you must encounter with your HAD work currently.
As we also have a practical session with different firearms at close range and with both paper and saved deer heads as targets, it is interesting to see how easy it is to be over confident when shooting at close range. Although this is not an assessed part of the course, it is a chance for delegates to see how effective and accurate a close range shot with a 243 held freehand actually is ... particularly with a fixed high power scope, bipod and mod .....

So .... would you benefit from a HAD course? I would be very surprised if you didn't come away with something new ... either from an instructor or participant. Would you have an interesting and enjoyable day with a range of like minded individuals in pleasant surrounds ..... absolutely! And hopefully an opportunity to share your knowledge with others, test yourself that you really do know it all, and end up with a Lantra certificate of training ..... although I accept that you don't need it currently.


Hope that helps a bit.

Tony
 
I think that both courses run by BDS and jelen are good for those who have little knowledge of what is required to dispatch at a rta,
I think what is required is some practical mock road side setups and maybe some police presence to let the HAD operater know what the police may require of them at a scene.
 
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