A hare caught and picked up “by the foot” by a greyhound at a coursing meeting in Cork was later found dead. That’s according to sickening documents released this week to ICABS by the Department of Agriculture.
The unfortunate hare was one of three hit by dogs at the Bandon and Carey’s Cross coursing meeting in December 2017.
A Department of Agriculture veterinary inspector who monitored day 1 of the meeting reported that “when one hare was hit near the escape, the muzzle seemed to come off one bitch when it came in heavy contact with the ground.”
“This bitch picked up the hare by the foot before the handlers got in,” he continued. “This hare died in the hare enclosure subsequently.”
He went on to say that the three hares hit by dogs on the day “did not receive a veterinary inspection to my knowledge, other than my own inspection after the meeting”. He was told that there was a vet present but that he did not meet him.
One of the hares who suffered a hit “seemed stunned and might have been injured internally”, he said, adding that it “bucked up and ran away on release”. Another hare was hit and pinned when a greyhound got through to the so-called escape area.
In stark contrast to the Department of Agriculture’s Veterinary Inspector report documenting one hare fatality, forms submitted by the coursing club claimed that there were no fatalities. Their form shows that four hares were hit and pinned to the ground during the 2-day meeting and two of these required treatment from a vet. However, they claimed that no hares were euthanized by a vet and no hares died from injuries.
A report submitted by the coursing club’s vet mirrored this, with no acknowledgement of a dead hare.
In a hare release form, the coursers wrote that out of the 70 hares captured for coursing, all 70 were released. As is the case after most coursing meetings, this hare release was not witnessed by a wildlife ranger.
ACTION ALERT
With warnings from wildlife experts that the Irish Hare is in trouble, it is now more clear than ever that the species must be given FULL PROTECTION - no hare coursing, no hare hunting, no hare shooting. Urgently contact Minister Josepha Madigan and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and demand that they stop licensing coursing and end all forms of hare persecution.
Minister Josepha Madigan
Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Email: josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie, ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie, wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie, john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie, Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie, nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie
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Tweet to: @josephamadigan
John Fitzgerald
Director, National Parks and Wildlife Service
Phone: +353 (0)1 888 3242
Email: john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below)
Dear Minister Madigan,
I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to demand that you stop licensing this cruel bloodsport.
In coursing, hares suffer and die at all stages - during the capture, during the time they are kept in captivity and during the coursing meetings where they run for their lives in front of greyhounds. Among the injuries recorded are broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.
I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and end this cruelty.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Location]
The Irish Hare is a protected species but an exemption for coursing in the Animal Health and Welfare Act means coursers are not liable for prosecution for their cruelty. Join us in our call to the government to remove the exemption and provide full and permanent protection to this cherished species.
Contact An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and ask him to ban hare coursing and give permanent protection to hares.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Tweet to @campaignforLeo
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/
Please contact all your local politicians and ask them to push for a ban on this blood sport. Encourage your friends, family and workmates to contact them too. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=32&disp=mem Write to your TDs at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 337 889. Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.
Support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports
Videos: Ireland's hare coursing cruelty
https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/videos/1492231004225786/
https://youtu.be/Z7X1S_Nng3I
https://youtu.be/Q7njqNGKyiI