Farming and rural organisations have urged peers to support amendments to a bill which would better protect farmers from illegal hare coursing.
The amendments, tabled by Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, are included in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which is making its way through the House of Lords.
The NFU, Countryside Alliance and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have written to peers urging them to back the proposals.
The organisations say the amendments would help protect farms and rural communities from illegal and destructive hare coursing.
The illegal blood sport is seen as a blight on rural communities and farmers' livelihoods, and is damaging to the conservation of one of Britain's iconic species.
It involves the pursuit of wild hares by trained greyhounds or lurchers across bare fields, often carried out by organised criminal gangs, with large sums of money gambled online.
The 'season' typically gets under way after harvest, when poachers take advantage of bare fields, which can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to land and crops, and sees many farmers and landowners intimidated.
The Bishop of St Albans' proposals would enable financially stretched police forces to recover the kennelling costs incurred where dogs have been seized.
This means the police would have the means to seize more dogs, a change which rural groups say would act as a significant deterrent to poachers given their high value.
The amendments would also enable courts to ban convicted offenders from having dogs and to strengthen penalties by lifting the existing limit on fines.
Earlier this year the government announced it would take action against hare coursing, including it in its Action Plan for Animal Welfare.
However, since then, farming and rural organisations say little progress has been made on the issue.
The letter, signed by NFU deputy president Stuart Roberts, Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner, and CLA president Mark Tufnell, says the current law "is simply not strong enough to tackle this crime effectively".
“Evidence is showing that coursing is closely connected to organised criminals and involves enormous sums of money changing hands through high-stakes illegal betting," the letter reads.
“Crops continue to be ruined, brown hare populations impacted and rural communities threatened and intimidated by illegal hare coursers.
“We believe that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill provides an excellent opportunity for the government to take action in this area."
The organisations added that the amendments proposed were supported by all rural organisations and the police.
“It is of the upmost importance that we do not continue to fail to protect our rural communities from this crime," they said in the letter.
"There is no good reason not to seize the moment and deliver these changes now.”
Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, said his proposals would act as a deterrent, assist the police, and enable the courts to impose penalties that reflect the seriousness of the offence.
“Many colleagues from all sides of the House have heard the terrible and frightening stories of the rural communities who have been subject to hare coursing," he said.
“I do not believe we can wait any longer before legislating to support our farmers and rural communities on this issue.”
