A veterinary surgeon and an “eagle-eyed” optician were among those taking part in a recent foxhunt in Cork, the Irish Field has revealed.
A report on a South Union Foxhounds hunt in December described how 25 hounds were released to chase foxes in the area.
During the hunt, "things got interesting" when a "fine dog fox was spotted slipping away by eagle-eyed Fiona Leahy who holloaed accordingly."
The report added: "Well why wouldn’t she be eagle-eyed being one of Cork’s leading opticians".
The pack of hounds "ran towards [the] main Bandon road and the area known as Clogheenduane" and "hunted well" until they "marked their fox on the old railway".
In hunting terminology, marking refers to the pack of hounds catching up with the fox and baying loudly at the entrance to an earth or drain where the cowering creature is trying to find refuge. Sadly, this often translates as death for unfortunate foxes when they are flushed out with terriers or dug out by hunt terriermen.
Also present at the South Union hunt were "husband and wife team Liam and Maria Burke from Inishannon...Liam is hunt chairman and only the previous week had hosted a joint meet of the South Union and the neighbouring Aghabullogue Harriers at home on his farm. Liam runs an extensive dairy farm while his wife Maria is a veterinary surgeon in the local DVO [District Veterinary Office]."
The South Union is the hunt whose disgusting activities were captured on film some years ago. In the footage, hunt terrierman can be seen digging a fox out of the ground with a terrier biting into his head. The squealing fox is then thrown into a sack and later released in front of a pack of hounds which catch him and tear him apart. A hunter can be seen picking up the remains of the fox and jubilantly swinging it in front of the hounds. See footage at http://www.banbloodsports.com/v-fox.htm
A ban on foxhunting is long overdue in Ireland. It remains legal thanks to an exemption shamefully included in the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 by the then Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney (who has admitted to participating in foxhunting). During a Dail debate in 2015 in which he defended the cruel activity, Simon Coveney stated: “I have hunted”. Despite acknowledging that he is “sure” that foxes get pulled apart by packs of hounds during foxhunts, he refused to ban the activity. “When I have hunted, I have never seen a fox being pulled apart,” he said. “I am sure, however, that it happens and I am not saying it does not.”
In the "Prohibition on animal cruelty" section of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, it is stated: "Nothing in this section applies in relation to anything which occurs in the ordinary course of lawfully hunting an animal, unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition". Without this exemption, those involved in foxhunting would face criminal prosecution for cruelty.
Witness the cruelty of foxhunting and find out more about the “Ban Foxhunting” campaign at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/camp-fh.htm
SEE ALSO: A RED C poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, has revealed that a massive 77% agree that the government should BAN FOXHUNTING. The opinion poll, carried out in September, found that just 12% disagree with a ban, while 11% said they don't know. Of those stating an opinion, 87% of these agree that the Irish Government should ban foxhunting while 13% disagree with this. https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/posts/2622019234580285
ACTION ALERT
Contact Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and demand a ban on 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
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
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?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.
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.