5 hares were hit and 4 were pinned to the ground at a coursing meeting in Listowel, recently released documents reveal.
The hares were among 56 netted from the wild, held in captivity for up to 64 days and forced to run for their lives at the 3-day coursing meet held on 1, 2, 3 November 2024.
Documents published on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service – which shamefully licenses the bloodsport on behalf of the Heritage Minister – show that a NPWS conservation ranger (who was there to monitor the persecution of this supposedly protected species) reported that:
On Day 1 of the coursing meeting on 1 November, 1 hare was hit and 1 hare was pinned and examined for injuries by the coursing club’s vet
On Day 2, 4 hares were hit and 2 were pinned. Just 1 hare was examined for injuries.
On Day 3, 1 hare was pinned and examined for injuries
While the ranger reported four hares pinned, the coursing club, in a submitted document, states that just three hares were pinned.
According to the NPWS ranger, the coursing club’s vet disgracefully certified the 56 captured hares “FIT FOR COURSING” before they were terrorised by the dogs.
See the documents at
https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/files/coursing-listowel-2024-2025.pdf
Shame on the Irish Government for allowing this bloodsport to continue, despite majority support among the public for a ban. A 2019 RED C poll found that 77% want coursing banned, with just 9% disagreeing with a ban. A majority in both rural and urban areas are in favour of a ban.
Due to the cruelty involved, coursing is already illegal in all our neighbouring jurisdictions (Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales).
ACTION ALERT
HELP THE HARES: Tell Heritage Minister James Browne and Minister of State for Nature Christopher O’Sullivan to give full protection to the Irish Hare and stop licensing cruel coursing.
Minister James Browne (Fianna Fail, Wexford)
Tel: (01) 618 3094
Email: james.browne@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.browne.enniscorthy
Twitter: https://x.com/jamesbrownetd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrownetd/?hl=en
Christopher O’Sullivan TD (Fianna Fail, Cork South West)
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity
Tel: (01) 618 3095 or 023 88 11011
Email: christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.osullivan.716
Twitter: https://twitter.com/COSullivanTD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher_o_sullivan_td
Urge Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon to remove exemptions for hare coursing and fox hunting from the Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Martin Heydon TD
Minister for Agriculture
Tel: 01-618 3017
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie; martin.heydon@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/martinheydonfg
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/martinheydonfg
Urge the Veterinary Council of Ireland to act to end vet involvement in hare coursing.
Niamh Muldoon
CEO, Veterinary Council of Ireland
Tel: +353 (0) 1 668 4402
Email: niamh.muldoon@vci.ie
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/34
Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein and the Labour Party and 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
Tel: 01 619 4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD
Simon Harris TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01 281 3727
Email: simon.harris@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
X: http://www.twitter.com/SimonHarrisTD
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DeputySimonHarris
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/
Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntgYjH06czs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIKc2CS4ko
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports