There are renewed calls on the Irish Government to ban cruel mink hunting.
Video footage provided to Heritage Minister James Browne and Minister of State for Nature Christopher O’Sullivan shows hunters and hounds in a river in County Cork looking for their next victim.
In an appeal to Ministers Browne and O’Sullivan to act, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports pointed out that mink hunting should not only be stopped due to the inherent cruelty – mink are caught, bitten and pulled apart by the dogs – but also due to the fact that mink hunting typically takes place in otter habitats. The otter is a protected species and hunting otters is outlawed.
“As you know, otters and their habitats are protected under the EU Habitats Directive,” we told the Ministers. “We believe that releasing a pack of hunting hounds into an otter territory constitutes a breach of that protection and this alone is grounds for stopping mink hunting.”
“Mink hunting is a hugely disruptive activity which involves searching through the undergrowth and prodding the banks with metal rods,” we added. “It is particularly objectionable during a biodiversity crisis, in the middle of bird nesting season and at a river which is a known habitat for the strictly protected otter species.”
We emphasised that during mink hunting activities, otters do not know that they are not the target of the hunters and hounds. Furthermore, hounds will not differentiate between a mink and an otter and may pursue either or both.
The latest “Ireland Red List” classifies the otter as being of least conservation concern due to a stated “population recovery” but goes on to stress that “the status of…the internationally important otter, should be carefully monitored in case the recoveries are not sustained.”
Mink hunting is entirely incompatible with Ireland’s obligations under the EU Habitats Directive. It reflects badly on the Irish Government that mink hunting, which obviously poses a threat to otters, has not yet been stopped. The otter, is “near threatened” at European and global level so every effort must be made to eliminate all threats to the remaining population in Ireland.
Watch the video footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buSwxtM4huM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKeLWnwB7hA
ACTION ALERT
Tell Heritage Minister James Browne and Minister of State for Nature Christopher O’Sullivan to ban mink hunting.
Minister James Browne (Fianna Fail, Wexford)
Tel: (01) 618 3094
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; natureconservation@housing.gov.ie
Facebook: / james.browne.enniscorthy
Twitter: https://x.com/jamesbrownetd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrowne
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: http://www.twitter.com/cosullivantd
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christopher_o_sullivan_td
Contact government party leaders and tell them that you want mink hunting, and all bloodsports, banned in Ireland.
Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Tel: 01 619 4000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
X: 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
Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports