“There’s one sound I don’t wish to hear on any part of this island, and that is the child-like screeching of a hare that is mauled, forcibly struck, or tossed into the air at a coursing event” - read John Fitzgerald’s Letter in this week’s Avondhu and please scroll down for action alert...
Sights and sounds we can do without...
Letter, The Avondhu: Dec 22nd 2022
Dear Editor,
A few months ago, an eloquent speaker at the Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss ended her wide-ranging talk on our endangered ecosystem by playing recordings of once familiar bird and animal sounds that are now seldom, if ever, heard in the countryside.
It was a heart-rending and timely reminder of what we’ve lost or could be in danger of losing if we don’t move urgently to protect what remains of the Natural World.
But there’s one sound I don’t wish to hear on any part of this island, and that is the child-like screeching of a hare that is mauled, forcibly struck, or tossed into the air at a coursing event.
It’s been said that a hare’s cry was often mistaken in the past for that of the mythical Banshee. It pierces the winter air like a siren, and can pull at the heart-strings of even the most hardened blood sport fan.
The hare will be among the animals seeking shelter amid the ice, hail, snow and storms at Christmas. Braving the elements, and the escalating habitat loss that threatens its survival as a species, is challenging enough to this mammal that has been with us since before the Ice Age of 10,000 years ago...without it also having to contend with humans who get a thrill by setting dogs on it.
Over yuletide, hundreds of hares will have to run for their lives. The fans will be wrapped snugly and sipping from whiskey or soup flasks, laughing and marking their cards...maybe looking forward to drinks by the fire afterwards. But no peace and goodwill for the hares that find themselves at the butt end of this “sport.”
Small wonder that a sixth of all submissions received by the Citizens Assembly since last May relate to this abhorrent practice. The petitioners call for the protection of an animal that conservationists dub the “flagship of Irish biodiversity.”
Successive governments have allowed coursing but now, thankfully, the political climate may be changing, with greater awareness of the rights of nature and the need to preserve our treasured wildlife heritage.
So, while I hope to hear the curlew, the corncrake, the sweet music of the Dawn Chorus and the distinctive sounds of all our vulnerable bird and animal species, I dream of a day when I won’t have to listen again to that pitiful screech on an Irish coursing field.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny
ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Urgently contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan and tell them to withdraw the 2022-23 hare coursing licences and also stop the hunting and shooting of Irish Hares.
Email “Stop all hare coursing, hunting and shooting NOW” to minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie
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
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) 888 2425 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
It is time for politicians to consign hare coursing to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to act. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to respect the wishes of the majority and ban hare coursing.
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
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
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
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/
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