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7 hares were hit by greyhounds, 11 hares were pinned to the ground and 1 hare was killed during a post-Christmas coursing meeting in County Kerry, newly released documents reveal.
The hares were among 72 cruelly netted from the countryside, transported in boxes to a coursing compound and held in captivity for up to 58 days for use as live bait for dogs to chase at the Kerry Coursing Club's animal cruelty event on 26, 27, 28 December 2023.
The hare netting licence was shamefully issued by the National Parks and Wildlife Service – a body which should be protecting the threatened Irish Hare, not facilitating its persecution. While hares ran for their lives from the unleashed dogs, a NPWS ranger was on the sidelines monitoring the horror and counting each of the 7 times hares were hit by dogs and the 11 times hares were battered into the ground. The ranger carefully noted in a monitoring report that the hares were only coursed ONCE per day, that all the dogs were muzzled (which does not prevent hares being caught and pummelled) and that the so-called escape area at the top of the field was “adequate” (although not adequate enough for the hares who were hit and pinned). The ranger didn't forget to tick a box confirming that the coursing park on which this appalling cruelty occurred was “in good condition”.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service issue the coursing licence on behalf of Fianna Fail Heritage Minister Darragh O'Brien. Minister O'Brien is on record as stating that “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]” but he has repeatedly disregarded calls for coursing licences to be refused. Instead, he chooses to pander to the merciless minority who find fun in abusing animals.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service is under the responsibility of Green Party TD Malcolm Noonan. Minister Noonan is Ireland's first “Minister for Nature” and he is unquestionably opposed to hare coursing. In fact, in the past, he has strongly denounced the cruel bloodsport, saying the suffering inflicted on hares “highlights a shocking disregard for the welfare of the animals”. In 2020, he also declared: “We all want to see hare coursing ended – it’s a cruel practice.” But he has failed to end it by simply stopping his NPWS division from handing out the licences which allow coursers to frighten hares out of their habitats and send them running into strategically placed nets. His condemnation of coursing means nothing to the thousands of hares who can be heard crying out and struggling to get free from the nets as their ordeal begins.
His Green Party is also very much against hare coursing. In its animal welfare policy, the party pledges to “bring in legislation to end hare coursing, fox hunting, hare hunting and mink hunting”. Party leader Eamon Ryan has in the past stressed that he is “firmly opposed to” hare coursing. However, the party's deputy leader Catherine Martin has said that, with a heavy heart, she – and presumably her party colleagues - would have to vote against upcoming bills seeking to ban hare coursing if the Green Party's coalition parties did so. Previously, Deputy Martin condemned coursing as “a brutal ordeal”. In a passionate June 2016 Dail speech, she stated: “Not only are these timid and delicate creatures terrified and brutalised in this practice, they often suffer severe injuries and death. The hare is a brittle-boned creature and its internal injuries cannot heal. Injured hares have to be put down.”
The suffering of the hares at the Kerry animal cruelty event was not only witnessed by a NPWS ranger but also by the coursing club's vet. This vet examined 10 hares for injuries during the 3-day meeting, confirmed one was injured and one was “euthanised”. Before the coursing meeting, this vet considered it appropriate to “certify the hares fit for coursing” - a deplorable act which has been brought to the attention of the Veterinary Council of Ireland who have been urged to act.
Reports documenting the terrorisation of hares at coursing meetings around Ireland and the injuries and deaths are available to view on the NPWS website
https://www.npws.ie/licencesandconsents/hare-coursing
ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Tell Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan to give full protection to the Irish Hare and stop licensing cruel coursing.
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
X: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Nature
Tel: (01) 618 3148 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
X: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
It is time for politicians to consign coursing and hunting 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 https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party to tell them that you want hare coursing and all bloodsports banned.
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/
X: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.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
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leovaradkar/
Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
X: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eamondryan/
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
X: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maryloumcdonaldsf/
Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
X: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivanabacik/
Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs and urge them to pledge support for a ban on hare coursing.
Fianna Fáil TDs
john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie
Fine Gael TDs
JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie
Green Party TDs
Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie;
ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie
Sinn Fein TDs
john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie
Labour Party TDs
ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie
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