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Two pregnant hares were among those in captivity at a coursing enclosure in County Kilkenny, newly published documents reveal.
The hares were identified as pregnant by a coursing club vet on Day 1 of the 2-day animal cruelty event held in Freshford on 2nd and 3rd November 2023.
They were among 45 hares netted from the wild between 10 September 2023 (54 days before the coursing meeting) and 22 October 2023 (12 days before coursing).
https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/files/coursing-freshford-2023-2024.pdf
ICABS has brought this to the attention of Heritage Minister Darragh O'Brien and called for an investigation. The conditions of the hare capture licence shamefully granted to the coursers state that pregnant hares must not be captured and must not be coursed.
It is unknown if these pregnant hares were used as live bait for dogs to chase during coursing activities.
On Day 1 of the meeting (2 November 2023), two hares were caught by greyhounds, pinned to the ground and examined for injuries.
On day 2, there were four missing hares – according to a coursing document, one escaped from a boxing shed on day 1 and three escaped the following day.
On day 2, the vet identified “nil” hares as being pregnant, suggesting that the two hares identified as pregnant the previous day were no longer there.
During coursing on Day 2, another two hares were hit by the dogs. Neither of these hares were examined for injuries.
Shame on the vet who “certified the hares fit for coursing” and shame on the Irish Government for allowing this obscenity to continue, despite majority support for a ban.
The pregnant hares at Freshford are not the first to be found in coursing compounds.
Previously, at Glin coursing club, pregnant hares gave birth while in captivity. A National Parks and Wildlife Service document obtained by ICABS revealed that five leverets were born in the “escape” area of the Glin coursing compound. The NPWS report stated that the rangers were unable to identify the mothers of the leverets and so they “organised care for and release of the 5 leverets”.
On another occasion, at Ennis Clarecastle coursing meet in County Clare, pregnant hares were among the captured hares.
At coursing in Tubbercurry, there were three pregnant hares in the coursing compound – one of them gave birth to two leverets. At a coursing event in Nenagh, there were two young hares and two heavily pregnant hares.
The idea of pregnant hares and leverets – or indeed any hares – in a coursing compound is truly appalling. Hares should be in the wild where they belong, not in a bloodsport venue to be used as lures for dogs in a grotesque activity that should have been banned decades ago.
Join us in demanding a ban on hare coursing.
ACTION ALERT
Contact the leaders of government parties Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Green Party and demand a long overdue ban on coursing. Remind them that a RED C opinion poll has shown that a 77% majority want the government to ban coursing, with just 9% disagreeing with a ban. A majority in both rural and urban areas are in favour of a ban.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar
Tanaiste 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/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Eamon Ryan TD (Dublin Bay South)
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
X: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Contact all TDs and tell 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
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
Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgx9XF9cP8c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIKc2CS4ko