[Note: Any donations made through Change.org go directly to Change.org. If you wish to donate to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports to support our campaigns, you can do so at https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports Thank you]

Join us in telling Heritage Ministers Darragh O’Brien and Malcolm Noonan to REFUSE a licence for another season of cruel hare coursing.

The 2022-23 licence - which the coursers have applied for - would allow them to net thousands of hares from the wild, hold them in captivity for weeks/months and eventually force them to run for their lives in front of greyhounds. All for the amusement of a merciless mob who cheer on the dogs and gamble on which one will force the hare to change direction first.

“All hares suffer fear and stress and every coursing season, hare injuries and deaths occur,” we told Ministers O’Brien and Noonan. “Among the injuries documented are broken back, spinal injury, broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.”

Hares suffer at all stages of coursing – during capture, while held captive in compounds and at the coursing meetings where they can be seen desperately running from the dogs.

Contact Ministers O’Brien and Noonan NOW and urge them to act in the best interests of the iconic and much loved Irish Hare species and make history by refusing a 2022-23 licence. This would be widely welcomed by the 77% majority of Irish citizens who want coursing banned (just 9% disagree with a ban. Source: RED C poll).

URGENT ACTION ALERT

HELP THE HARES: Urgently contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan. Email “Please refuse a 2022-23 licence for cruel hare coursing” to:
minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie
[or please scroll down for sample letter to send].

Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie

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

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the sample letter below)

Dear Minister O’Brien,

I am writing to ask you to please REFUSE a licence for another season of cruel hare coursing.

The licence would allow coursers to net thousands of hares from the wild, transport them in boxes to coursing compounds, manhandle them, hold them in captivity for weeks/months and eventually force them to run for their lives in front of greyhounds.

All the hares suffer fear and stress and, despite the muzzling of the dogs, hares are injured and killed every coursing season when they are caught and mauled. Among the injuries documented are broken back, spinal injury, broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.

Hares suffer at all stages – during capture, while held captive and at the coursing meetings where they can be seen desperately running as a merciless mob cheer the greyhounds on and gamble on which dog will force the hare to change direction first. Coursing compromises the welfare of hares and those who survive the ordeal remain at risk of dying from stress-related capture myopathy in the days and weeks after they are released back to the wild.

There is also the very worrying issue of disease spread among hares when they are forced together in unnatural high density. The National Parks and Wildlife Service division of your Department has made it clear that “the catching of hares in nets, their transportation in boxes and the collection and holding of hares in confined areas can all be considered to increase the risk of disease spread”. In relation to the highly contagious RHD2 virus, the NPWS has stated that “if one infected animal is found in netting for a coursing meeting, then the entire capture would need to be put down.”

Minister, as you have previously observed, “hares are a protected species and are better off being in the wild rather than being held in captivity in large groups [in coursing enclosures]”. Your colleague, Minister of State Malcolm Noonan, has in the past condemned coursing, saying the suffering inflicted on hares “highlights a shocking disregard for the welfare of the animals”. In 2020, he stated: “We all want to see hare coursing ended – it’s a cruel practice.”

With the suffering, stress, injury and death caused to hares at coursing meetings, there should be no hesitation in finally ending this shameful activity by refusing a 2022-23 licence. This would be widely welcomed by the 77% majority of Irish citizens who want coursing banned (just 9% disagree with a ban. Source: RED C poll).

Ireland is in the middle of a biodiversity crisis and it’s time for the iconic Irish Hare to be given full protection and allowed to live free from persecution. Please refuse the licence as a step towards a long overdue ban on coursing.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Address]

Please sign and share the petitions

Sinn Fein: Support a ban on cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/sinn-fein-support-a-ban-on-cruel-hare-coursing

Ireland – Ban cruel hare coursing
http://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

Find us on Twitter and Instagram
https://twitter.com/banbloodsports
https://www.instagram.com/banbloodsports/

Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dm0mmXYcv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIKc2CS4ko