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“The days of legal coursing are hopefully drawing to an end. It’s time to pull down the curtain on a practice that shames Ireland” - Read John Fitzgerald's Letter in The Avondhu and please scroll down for action alert...
Scientific study strengthens case for hare coursing ban
The Avondhu: 26th May 2023
Dear Editor,
The long-awaited results of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Hare Survival (after coursing) study have been published. The study aimed to see how twenty coursed hares, released into the wild and monitored, would fare after six months; in comparison with twenty un-coursed hares also released and similarly monitored over the same time-period.
Shockingly, only one of the 20 coursed hares used in the study was found alive at the end of the six-month period, whereas eight of the un-coursed hares were found alive.
While further studies would be required to determine exactly how coursing impacts on hare survival, it is clear that the coursed hares fared worse than the un-coursed ones.
Given the decline in hare numbers over the past half century (due to habitat loss and human predation) and the fact that coursing clubs are capturing less hares in recent years for their fixtures, the government should now step in and end the scandal of hare coursing.
Twenty years ago, around 10,000 hares were captured for each coursing season. Less that 4000 were captured for the 2022/23 season. Coursing clubs get around the lower catch by forcing the captured hares to run more times.
The Irish Hare is one of our few native mammals, a survivor of the Ice Age of 10,000 years ago. It’s bad enough that it’s under pressure from the effects of climate change, poaching, urbanization and the downside of modern agriculture, without having to contend with gangs of men netting it for use as live bait.
We know that hares are susceptible to stress arising from unnatural captivity. The abysmal survival rate of the coursed hares in the study suggests that hare coursing, in addition to being a demonstrably cruel practice from an animal welfare standpoint, may be impacting adversely on the wellbeing of the Irish Hare as a species.
With this latest study on its desk the government should now apply the precautionary principle and suspend all coursing activities.
The days of legal coursing are hopefully drawing to an end. It’s time to pull down the curtain on a practice that shames Ireland.
John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny
URGENT ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Urgently contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan. Email "Please refuse a 2023-24 licence for cruel hare coursing" 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
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
With a RED C opinion poll confirming that a 77 per cent majority of citizens want hare coursing banned (with just 9% disagreeing with a ban), it is now time for politicians to consign this nasty bloodsport to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to 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
Urge Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheál Martin to respect the wishes of the majority and ban hare coursing and all bloodsports.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +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
Tanaiste Micheál Martin
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
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Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gkr014Y0KR0