Ruth Coppinger TD has announced that a draft of her new bill which aims to ban cruel fox hunting in Ireland is “on its way to the Bills Office”.
“This is an important step for animal welfare and against animal cruelty,” Deputy Coppinger stated on Instagram. “I will keep you posted about the the next stages and putting pressure on TDs and parties. Thanks to @banbloodsports for their input, as well as @naracampaigns.” https://www.instagram.com/p/DJZWSrYMKRo/?img_index=1
A big THANK YOU to Ruth Coppinger TD (People Before Profit-Solidarity, Dublin West) for drafting and presenting the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban On Fox Hunting) Bill 2025.
The Bill aims to amend the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 (which contains an exemption for hunting), i.e. Section 12 states that "A person shall not (a) do, or fail to do, anything or cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering to, or endanger the health or welfare of, an animal, or (b) neglect, or be reckless, regarding the health or welfare of an animal” but adds “nothing in this section applies in relation to anything which occurs in the ordinary course of...lawfully hunting an animal, unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition, or lawfully coursing a hare, unless the hare is hunted or coursed in a space from which it does not have a reasonable chance of escape.”
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/act/15/section/12/enacted/en/html#sec12
Deputy Coppinger’s bill, if enacted, would add a paragraph to Section 12 to “specify that fox hunting and related practices are banned and therefore cannot be considered as lawful hunting”.
The bill focuses on banning not only fox hunting but also trail hunting and the snaring and trapping of foxes:
“A person shall not-
(a) Hunt a fox, or foxes, including with a canine or canines;
(b) Use a canine or canines to flush or dig out a fox, or foxes, from below ground;
(c) Trap or snare a fox, or foxes, in order to kill the fox, or foxes;
(d) Engage in trail hunting.”
It goes on to state: “Fox hunting is a cruel and inhumane blood sport. Fox hunting causes unnecessary suffering and stress to the fox. The practice entails setting a pack of dogs on a fox who then chase and kill the fox. The pack of dogs are generally pursued by hunters on horseback. It is a common practice for any fox that escapes underground to have hunt followers set terrier dogs on them to kill them underground or to flush them out. It is an archaic practice with a deeply elitist culture. Public opinion is opposed to the practice with opinion polls overwhelmingly supportive of a ban on fox hunting.
“Fox hunting has been banned in Britain for over 20 years (Scotland introduced a ban in 2002, and England and Wales in 2004). Experience in Britain has shown that a loophole that permits trail hunting - where the scent of a fox is followed - often leads to the pursuit and killing of a fox.
“The fox is a mammal native to Ireland and is part of Ireland's biodiversity. The killing of foxes through fox hunting is not needed to protect livestock or to protect biodiversity.”
Ruth Coppinger TD revealed in February that she was working on this bill. In a video posted on Instagram, she stated at the time: “Fox hunting has no benefit to anybody, except to entertain a tiny minority of usually quite privileged people. It is not a traditional pastime. It needs to be outlawed. There have been attempts to do this before. Now we need to put it up to Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the animal-hating cabal of some of the independent TDs that are in with them. We need to put pressure on to protect animals. So I am going to be amending the Animal Health and Welfare Act to protect foxes from hunting.” https://www.instagram.com/p/DFqlJH4tt2W/
Praising foxes, Deputy Coppinger described them as “beautiful creatures”.
“They’re the only wild dog that we have in Ireland,” she said. “They can live up to age 10 but according to experts, many don’t survive beyond their second birthday because of the threat from various different sources. One of them includes the threat from hunting.”
Before being elected in the General Election in November 2024, Deputy Coppinger had promised to introduce a “Ban Fox Hunting” bill, if returned to Dail Eireann, commenting - “It’s Incredible that big parties in the Dail support allowing a beautiful animal be ripped to shreds for entertainment - Shame on Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.”
Ruth Coppinger was instrumental in securing a ban on fur farming in Ireland. She is also in favour of a ban on greyhound racing and hare coursing.
ACTION ALERT
Help get majority support in Dail Eireann for Ruth Coppinger TD’s bill to ban fox hunting. Please get in touch with your local TDs now and urge them to back a ban on fox hunting. 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. Tell them that you want fox hunting, 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/
Keep hunters off your land
If you are a landowner, make your land off-limits to hunters. Find out more about how to do this on our Farmers/Landowners Page – http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm
Witness the cruelty of foxhunting at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/videos.htm
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https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports