10 hares were hit and 2 suffered injuries after they were pinned to the ground at a shameful coursing meeting in Kilkenny, newly released documents reveal.
The disturbing details are contained in reports published on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service – which disgracefully licenses the bloodsport on behalf of the Heritage Minister. They show that a NPWS conservation ranger (who was there to monitor the persecution of this supposedly protected species) noted that:
On Day 1 of the two-day North Kilkenny coursing meeting at Ballyragget (21-22 December 2024), 6 hares were hit by dogs and 1 hare was caught and pinned to the ground. This hare was “confirmed injured” and “required treatment for injuries”.
On Day 2 of the animal cruelty event, four more hares were hit by the dogs and 1 was pinned to the ground. One hare was confirmed injured.
A total of 10 hares were hit and 2 pinned and injured.
These hares were among 53 captured from the wild in nets between 3 November and 8 December 2024 and held in captivity for up to 50 days.
The coursing club’s vet shamefully certified all the hares “fit for coursing” before they were terrorised by the dogs.
According to the coursers, the 53 hares were released back to the wild at the end of the coursing meeting on 22 December. This included the hare who was injured the previous day and the hare who suffered an injury earlier that day.
Coursing compromises the welfare of hares and those used and abused remain at risk of subsequently dying from stress-related capture myopathy in the days and weeks after they are released.
A survival study commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service involved snatching 40 hares from the wild, attaching GPS radio collars around their necks and tracking their movements. 20 of the captured hares were forced to run for their lives at the national coursing cruelty festival in Clonmel, while the other 20, for comparison purposes, were spared the ordeal. The results of the study are alarming and strengthen the case for the Precautionary Principle to be applied and coursing licences refused. Out of the 20 coursed hares used, just 1 was confirmed to be still alive at the end of the study.
See the documents at
https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/files/coursing-north-kilkenny-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: minister@housing.gov.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