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The National Parks and Wildlife Service shamefully allowed coursers in Kilkenny to hold 47 hares in continuing captivity despite uncertainty about their health after five were hit by greyhounds at the start of a meeting in December.
In documents published on the NPWS website, it is revealed that on 17 December 2021 before the North Kilkenny coursing meeting began, a hare "was found lying up which appeared to be unwell/injured. It then ran to the other side of the enclosure." There is no mention of this hare being examined.
This alarming sight did not stop the meeting from being allowed to proceed around 40 minutes later.
Seven hares were initially released up the field.
According to the NPWS Wildlife Ranger, whose name is redacted in the documents, “the hares appearance looked to be ok”.
The ranger reported that:
“A total of 7 hares were ran up the coursing field.
“The first hare was hit, pinned, and held and had to be secured from the dog(s) by the stewards/handlers.
“The second hare was a no slip and was not coursed.
“The third hare was hit and pinned but quickly freed itself to escape the coursing field.
“The fourth hare was hit, pinned and held and had to be secured from the dog(s) by the stewards/handlers.
“The fifth hare was hit, pinned and held and had to be secured from the dog(s) by the stewards/handlers (From memory, at this point the slipper stopped the
coursing and discussion was made as to what to do next).
“A sixth hare was subsequently let run up the course but the dogs were not slipped.
“A seventh hare was hit, pinned, and held and had to be secured from the dog(s) by the stewards/handlers.”
The ranger added that around twenty minutes after the start of the meeting, the coursers “had a discussion on the condition of the hares” before the planned 3-day meeting was “called off/suspended with a view to assessing the situation and the possibility of re-organising the meet two weeks later”.
An accompanying veterinary report stated that just four of the five hares who were hit and pinned by the greyhounds were examined for injuries. The vet said the coursers were advised to arrange for a vet to attend at intervals during the week and that “any casualties” were to be sent to the Regional Veterinary Laboratory for post-mortem.
The NPWS ranger’s report shows that after the meeting was called off, the coursing club’s vet “examined 3 hares in the boxing shed at 12:00-12:10 and suggested the possibility of a viral pneumonia” but “no pneumonia or infection was found in the hares upon examination by two vets that evening.”
The hares were given an unspecified injection and the ranger noted that five days later on 22nd December, “the hares had got their third injection that day and they seemed to be clearing up health wise.”
Disgracefully, there appears to have been no move by the NPWS to order the release of the hares. Instead, the plan was to allow the coursers to keep the unfortunate animals in captivity for more than two weeks extra and use them at a rescheduled meeting.
The coursers’ vets said they would “assess the hares the following Monday [27th December] with a view to running the meeting on the 3rd and 4th January 2022.”
The ranger added that “on 29th December the [redacted] was contacted and they confirmed that the hares had been tested by the Irish Coursing Club and all was well - all 47 hares were still alive and in the possession of the club.”
On 3 and 4 January 2022, the coursing went ahead, with one hare hit and pinned to the ground on the first day and examined by a vet for injuries. A hare was also hit on Day 2.
The coursers claim that the 47 hares in the compound were released after the meeting but this cannot be confirmed as the NPWS was only present to witness the release of 30 hares. The ranger stated that “1 of the 30 died during release”.
Shame on the Irish Government for allowing cruel hare coursing to continue in 2022. It’s time for politicians to listen to the majority who want coursing stopped and put in place a permanent ban.
ACTION ALERT
Tell Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan to stop licensing cruel hare coursing and give Irish Hares the proper protection they deserve
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; minister@housing.gov.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to tell them that you want hare coursing and all bloodsports banned.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.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
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Eamon Ryan TD
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
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/
Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://youtu.be/5Dm0mmXYcv8
https://youtu.be/yVIKc2CS4ko
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