A Supervalu supermarket in Mullingar has been slammed for sponsorsing a foxhunt's drinks reception.
On its Facebook page, the Westmeath Foxhunt thanked Buckley's Supervalu for sponsoring the reception at its recent Hunt Ball held at Annebrook House Hotel in the town.
In a promotion for the ball, the hunt stated: "Drinks reception kindly sponsored by Buckleys Supervalue".
In an email to Supervalu Head Office, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports expressed disgust at the sponsorship.
"It is incredible that in 2020, a Supervalu supermarket would consider it appropriate to give its support to foxhunters, particularly after a RED C opinion poll confirmed that a 77 per cent majority of Irish citizens (including, no doubt, a majority of Supervalu customers) want the government to ban foxhunting." The poll found that just 12 per cent disagree with a ban.
Shame on Buckley's Supervalu for supporting foxhunters. Foxhunting is one of Ireland's worst acts of cruelty to animals. It involves releasing a pack of hounds to chase a fox to exhaustion. When the fox is caught, the animal is knocked off his feet, bitten, disembowelled and torn apart. Foxes who try to escape underground are attacked by hunt terriers, dug out of the ground and brutally killed.
Hunt balls are major fundraisers for foxhunts.
In an appeal to Supervalu to act to stop its stores supporting foxhunt events, we pointed out that locals are now boycotting Buckleys Supervalu due to its sponsorship of the hunt's drinks reception and that people around the country are continuing to boycott other Supervalu stores due to their past sponsorship of greyhound racing.
Responding to our concerns, Supervalu did not condemn the foxhunt sponsorship or express any concern that the Supervalu brand was associated with a bloodsport. A spokesperson merely stated: "As most of our stores are independently owned, any sponsorship would be down to the store's own discretion to do so."
ACTION ALERT
BOYCOTT BUSINESSES THAT SUPPORT FOXHUNTERS, GREYHOUND RACING, ETC
Complain to Buckley's Supervalu. Contact details for the supermarket - as presented on the Supervalu website - are:
Susan Buckley
Buckley's Supervalu
Austin Friars Street
Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Tel: 044 9342420
Urge Supervalu to act: supervalu@musgravegroup.com
Help secure a long overdue ban on cruel foxhunting in 2020.
With a RED C opinion poll confirming that a 77 per cent majority want fox hunting banned (with just 12 per cent disagreeing with a ban), it is now time for politicians to consign this nasty bloodsport to history. Join us in contacting all the newly elected TDs and demanding that they act to ensure that a ban is urgently introduced. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Contact the leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the Green Party to tell them that you want fox hunting, and all bloodsports, banned.
Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Leave a comment on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
Constituency Office
137 Evergreen Road,
Turner’s Cross, Cork
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Leave a comment on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Sign and share the petitions
Ireland - Ban cruel hare coursing
www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing
Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Industry
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-industry
Westmeath Foxhunt: More Information
A 2011 Farmers' Journal report told of how 16 mounted followers of the Westmeath hunt, along with 29 hounds, found a fox that was caught and "chopped." Later on, another fox was "overhauled before he managed to put any distance between himself and them." Both "chopped" and "overhauled," in hunting terminology, mean that the fox was caught by the hounds and brutally killed.
Disturbing video filmed during a Westmeath Foxhunt in February 2015. The video shows a hunter calling his horse a C***, a hunter whipping her horse fives times and a horse falling backwards into a ditch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKk8midpn5Y
A report in the Irish Field (8 February 2019) detailed how several foxes were terrorised during a Westmeath Foxhounds hunt. The pack of hounds first found two foxes in a field of kale before “settling on one” and pursuing him. Another fox was chased and “marked” in a bog “after a nice crisp run of over 40 minutes”. In hunting terminology, “marked” 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. Surrounded by the hunters and hounds, this is a desperate situation for the fox. It often means death - foxes are flushed out with terriers or dug out by hunt terriermen before being killed.
In 2007, the Irish Independent reported that there was a probe into allegations that a rope was tied to the leg of a fox and that it was pulled out of a burrow and fed alive to hounds. See Irish Independent report https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/top-hunt-probed-in-cruelty-claim-26333741.html
A 2008 Irish Field report revealed that the Westmeath Hunt's hounds chased a fox into the freezing water of the Royal Canal: "The fox and the pack swam across the canal and continued along the banks to the Mullingar/Ballynacargy Road...the fox, with 9 hounds in pursuit, then swam the canal again"
A Westmeath Foxhounds hunt report in the The Irish Field documented the cruel practice of digging-out and the obscene ritual of cutting off the tails and tongues of foxes..."Terriers were some time in coming as followers were the wrong side of the wind for hearing. A quick dig followed and 2 foxes were dispatched. Eamon had a brush for Clarissa and a fox's tongue which he intends pickling in vinegar to cure warts and draw thorns."
"Plenty of foxes about who didn't want to run but hounds did their best on a pre-hunt ball day. Great night last night in the Bloomfield Hotel and plenty of sore heads this morning!" Caption on a Westmeath Foxhunt photo shared on the hunt's Facebook page, February 2015.