A Catholic priest shamefully blessed foxhunters and a pack of hounds at the start of a hunt in Tipperary last month, it has emerged.
A report in the Irish Field outlines that "retired local padre Fr Tom Breen was on hand to invoke God’s blessing on the hounds and the followers for the season."
In an email to Fr Breen, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports pointed out that blessing hunts is contrary to a 2003 announcement by the Irish Bishops Conference that the bishops "would not condone the practice of priests blessing foxhunts" and that the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer and die needlessly" - a message tweeted by Pope Francis in 2015.
The Tipperary Foxhounds hunt, involving a pack of 31 hounds, took place in Fethard on Bank Holiday Monday, 28th October, and saw foxes being terrorised by the mounted hunters and their dogs.
Before setting out, the hunters congregated at McCarthy's Pub/Hotel in Fethard which "provided hot port and other suitable hunting refreshments given out by no less than the proprietor himself, Vincent (Jasper) Murphy, who also doubles up as the town undertaker".
A post on the McCarthy's Facebook page on the morning of the hunt showed cups, glasses and bottles of port along with the message "Getting the Hot Ports ready for the Opening Meet this Bank Holiday morning."
Among those participating in the foxhunt was a member of the Irish Army Equitation School (Lt Col Tom Freyne OC), the Polish representative on the International Federation of Racing Authorities, and "his guest, veterinary surgeon James Sheeran from Kildare". ICABS has renewed an appeal to the Veterinary Council of Ireland to act to stop vets attending foxhunts.
The Irish Field report outlines that hunters proceeded to "the left of the Rocklow road in some low lying land on the banks of the Clashawley", where foxes are usually found but "Reynard was not at home and hounds drew on across the road behind Dr Carmel Condon’s".
Later, a fox was disturbed from a thicket and chased by the pack - "a fine dog fox emerged and took them on a guided tour of Annsgift before making a circuitous return to Rocklow where he found refuge in a shore and was given best."
Hounds were then brought to "O’Meara’s big kale field" where they "had to work hard". A fox was soon "spotted slipping away" before being pursued by the dogs.
"While it looked like being the start of something special, it never quite materialised," the report states. "Hounds hunted towards Power’s Wood, which is back near Annsgift, but after a few fields, scent petered out in Liam O’Connor’s very extensive farm which runs between the Cashel and Moyglass road."
In foxhunting, foxes are chased to exhaustion and when caught, are ripped apart by packs of hounds. Hunt terriers are sent after foxes who desperately try to escape underground, leading to horrific injuries for both foxes and dogs. A ban on foxhunting is long overdue in Ireland.
ACTION ALERT
Ask Fr Breen to recognise the cruelty of foxhunting and stop blessing hunts.
Very Rev. Canon Thomas F. Breen AP
Cashel Rd. Fethard, Co. Tipperary
Tel: 052 6131680 or 087 7609020
Email: tfbreen@icloud.com; office@cashel-emly.ie
Urge the Veterinary Council of Ireland to condemn foxhunting and act to stop veterinary involvement in the bloodsport.
Veterinary Council of Ireland
53 Lansdowne Road
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
Tel: +353 (0) 1 668 4402
Email: info@vci.ie
Boycott businesses which support bloodsports.
Foxhunting is totally unacceptable in modern Ireland. Please join us in demanding a long overdue ban on foxhunting.
Contact the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and urge him to ban fox hunting.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Tweet to: @LeoVaradkar
Please sign and share our petition - Ban Blood Sports in Ireland Now
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
Contact the Agriculture Minister now and demand that an exemption for foxhunting is removed from the Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Michael Creed TD
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd
Tweet to: @creedcnw
Appeal to all Irish politicians
Please join us in telling the Irish Government that it is now time to ban foxhunting. Contact all your local TDs and urge them to push for a ban on this blood sport. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp
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.
Keep hunters off your land
If you are a landowner, make your land off-limits to hunters. Find out more about how to do this on our Farmers/Landowners Page - http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm Encourage all land-owning friends and family members in the countryside to show compassion and make their land a haven for wildlife. If hunters are denied access to land, the wildlife will be spared the suffering of cubhunting and foxhunting.