CRUEL FOX HUNTING - “It’s time to end this organised animal cruelty masquerading as sport” - Read John Fitzgerald’s Letter to the Editor in the Avondhu...
Hunting Resumes
Letter to the Editor, The Avondhu
2nd December 2021
The hunting season is upon us, and the pursuit of the uneatable by the unspeakable, as Oscar Wilde called this activity, has returned to our countryside. While I welcome the resumption of sports and recreations following the Covid lockdown, I feel sick to the stomach at the prospect of this pastime making a comeback.
I have just read a report on some recent Irish hunts in an equestrian magazine and I notice that blood sport apologists still find it necessary to resort to evasion and carefully chosen euphemisms when writing about foxhunting.
The report refers to a twenty minute chase through County Laois that culminated in a fox running onto a farm in search of refuge. It enthused about the suitability of the terrain, the lovely hedges and the crisp winter air, etc. But the fate of the fox doesn’t merit a mention. The report recounts another hunt in which the fox, following a long chase, was “marked to ground.”
No mention of the animal suffering in any way, but this phrase normally refers to when a fox is driven into a drain or den from which it is then dug out. And, of course, the report alludes to the wonderful day had by all and the festivities afterwards in the pubs and hotels.
We need to get beyond the picture postcard image of foxhunting that depicts wizened riders attired in red jackets and jodhpurs setting off from a town square, led by happy tail-wagging hounds, while in the background snow falls wispily from whitened rooftops.
A hunt is not sporting in that it pits up to seventy hounds against one fox, and the aim is to kill the hunted animal…not quickly as in pest-control but in a long drawn-out, choreographed chase that must give pleasure to the riders and hunt followers.
You won’t ever see the result of a hunt depicted on postcards or table mats: An animal that has dropped down from exhaustion having the skin ripped from its bones; or a terrified fox that has gone to earth being dragged to the surface with the aid of spades and terriers.
Later this month, a Bill to ban fox hunting will come before the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Dail should also be debating the issue.
It’s time to end this organised animal cruelty masquerading as sport.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny
ACTION ALERT
Keep hunters off your land. For more information, visit
http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm
A RED C opinion poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, shows that a 77% majority agree that the government should ban foxhunting. The poll found that just 12 per cent disagree with a ban on foxhunting. Tell politicians to respect the wishes of the majority and ban foxhunting.
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party to tell them that you want fox hunting and all bloodsports banned.
Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
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
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
Alan Kelly TD
Leader, Labour Party
Tel: 067 34190
Email: alan.kelly@oir.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alankellytd/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alankellylabour
Contact all your local TDs and urge them to push for a ban on foxhunting and all bloodsports. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=33&disp=mem