The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has called for updates to the Wildlife Act to make bloodsports, bird shooting, snaring and other cruel acts unlawful in Ireland.
In a submission to the National Parks and Wildlife Service's public consultation on its review of wildlife legislation, we stated: “The priority for wildlife legislation must be, first and foremost, to ensure that it works BETTER FOR WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITY. This necessitates modifications to the existing legislation to finally end practices which negatively impact wildlife species, including hare coursing, fox hunting, mink hunting, badger snaring and bird shooting.”
In our submission, we called for a removal of the Irish Hare from the Open Seasons Order which allows the species to be terrorised and killed by coursers, hunters and shooters.
“The Irish Hare is listed on Annex V of EU Habitats Directive, meaning Ireland must 'manage the species sustainably',” we pointed out. “The Directive makes it clear that 'member states shall prohibit the use of all indiscriminate means capable of causing local disappearance of, or serious disturbance to, populations of such species.' Hare coursing unquestionably causes serious disturbance to the species. Thousands of hares are rounded up in nets, held in captivity for weeks/months and forced to endure the stress and suffering caused by coursing activities. Every coursing season, hares suffer injuries and are killed, while those released back to the wild are at risk of later dying from stress-related capture myopathy.”
We called for the Wildlife Act to be amended to remove sections which allow for the licensing of cruel coursing, the netting of hares for coursing, the hunting of hares with packs of hounds and the shooting of hares.
An appeal to give protection to the Red Fox was also part of our submission.
“The fox is an important part of the ecosystem and is a native Irish mammal deserving of a place among the animals protected,” we stated. “Without this protection, the fox remains one of Ireland's most persecuted wild mammals. Foxes suffer the most appalling cruelty in fox hunting. They are disturbed from their habitats, chased to exhaustion by a pack of hounds and ripped apart when caught.”
Another reason to give protection to the red fox is to support existing protection for badgers. Individuals involved in badger baiting often claim they were hunting foxes as a way of attempting to evade prosecution.
We also pushed for protection for the critically endangered Old Irish Goat, pointing out that “despite being a rare native breed and an important part of Ireland's wildlife heritage, they are being blasted to death by trophy hunters.”
We pointed out that the Old Irish Goat Society which is dedicated to saving this “massively important and irreplaceable part of our most ancient heritage” has called for protection "before feral herds that have existed in the wilds of our most remote glens and valleys for 5,000 years are shot to extinction”.
We also called for an amendment to the Wildlife Act to make hunting mink with hounds a specific offence. Mink hunting poses a serious disturbance and threat to otters and otter habitats, both of which are protected under the EU Habitats Directive.
Noisy mink hunting (with shouting, barking/howling and horn blowing) typically takes place in otter habitats. Otters do not know that they are not the target of the hunters and hounds. Furthermore, hounds don't differentiate between a mink and an otter and may pursue either or both.
In relation to the continuation of carted deer hunting, we asked for the existing legislation to be changed to remove a loophole.
“In 2010, the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2010 was enacted, with the aim of ending hunting deer and stags with a pack of hounds. This legislation repealed Section 26(1) of the Wildlife Act 1976 (amended by section 35 of the Act of 2000) which stated: “The Minister may grant to...the master or other person in charge of a pack of stag hounds, a licence authorising the hunting of deer by that pack.”
The Wildlife Act was amended to now state that “a person who hunts deer with two or more dogs shall be guilty of an offence”. This loophole has been exploited by the Ward Union hunt which continues to bring out domesticated stags in a cart. After releasing a stag from the cart, they unleash ONE DOG to chase the deer across the countryside to lay a scent which the main pack of hounds, and hunters on horseback, then follow.
This is totally at odds with the spirit of the legislation. Section 23(A)(2) of the Wildlife Act 1976 must be changed to state that “a person who hunts deer with ONE or more dogs shall be guilty of an offence”.
We also want Section 23A(3) deleted. This states that “It shall NOT be an offence for a person on foot to hunt deer with 2 or more dogs, under and in accordance with (a) a licence granted under section 29 of this Act, or (b) a permission granted under section 42 of this Act.”
Our submission also called for:
The deletion of Section 3(d) of the Wildlife Act 1976 (Approved Traps, Snares and Nets) Regulations 2003 which lists as an approved trap “a stopped body restraint... intended to trap badgers in accordance with a licence granted for that purpose to the Department of Agriculture and Food...” This facilitates the Department's shameful trapping of badgers – supposedly a protected species – as part of its failed TB eradication scheme.
A change to the legislation to make it an offence to use snares, Larsen traps and ladder traps.
An end to the shooting of birds, including amber- and red-listed birds and the year-round shooting of wood pigeons.
Full protection for animals on state-owned lands
A ban on the capture and use of birds in the bloodsport of falconry.
An end to the shooting of deer, including pregnant deer
The establishment of a wildlife crime unit, with increased penalties for those found guilty of wildlife crimes
The launch of a national register of offenders
ACTION ALERT
Contact Heritage Minister Darragh O'Brien and Minister of State for Nature Malcolm Noonan and urge them to prioritise wildlife protection and stop hunting with hounds, shooting, snaring, trapping, etc.
Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Minister for Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; minister@housing.gov.ie; natureconservation@housing.gov.ie; WildlifeLicence@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/MinisterMalcolmNoonan/
X: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm
With a RED C opinion poll confirming that a 77 per cent majority of citizens want hare coursing and fox hunting banned, it is now time for politicians to consign these bloodsports 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
Contact the leaders of Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to demand a ban on hare hunting, hare coursing, fox hunting, mink hunting and all bloodsports.
Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1 618 3805 or +353 (0)1 889 2442
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DeputySimonHarris
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
Roderic O'Gorman TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: (01) 6642052
Email: roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RodericOG/
X: https://x.com/rodericogorman
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
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/
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
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports
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Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRUi_z_29tI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIKc2CS4ko
Witness the cruelty of foxhunting at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/videos.htm
https://youtu.be/cbLKs9pgQno