The horror is continuing for hares this Halloween weekend with more sickening coursing cruelty. In Ballinagar, Co Offaly today, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports witnessed a hare suffering a severe mauling. The unfortunate creature was chased, hit and sent tumbling head over heals before its body was pinned to the ground. The hare repeatedly tried to get free from the greyhounds but was held in place and sustained a prolonged battering. The hare eventually got away and ran into the so-called "escape" but is very likely to have suffered serious internal injuries. It's an absolute outrage that in 2016, hares are being abused in this way week after week. This latest mauling comes just days after we highlighted another incident in Galway. A hare was pinned and mauled at a coursing meeting in Loughrea, before its battered body was slowly carried off the field. See https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/videos/vb.463547953760768/1099449793503911/?type=2&theater Once again, we say shame on Minister Heather Humphreys and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. They have disregarded the suffering of the Irish Hare in granting a licence to coursers to go out into the countryside to catch hares in nets, keep them in captivity and use them as live lures for dogs to chase. Instead of acting on the wishes of the majority who want this disgusting bloodsport outlawed, they prefer to pander to those who consider it entertaining to watch animals running for their lives and bet on the outcome. When we see hares suffering on the coursing fields, we think of the 114 TDs who shamefully lined up in Dail Eireann last June to vote AGAINST a ban on hare coursing. They and their party leaders had an opportunity to finally ban coursing but opted to choose cruelty over compassion. Hare coursing must be ended in Ireland. Please join us as we redouble our efforts to push for a long overdue ban. Send the email below, sign and share the petitions, call the Ministers and contact your local TDs. Thank you. ACTION ALERT Email "BAN HARE COURSING NOW" TO Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie, ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie, taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie, Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie, michael.creed@oir.ie Leave a comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/heather.humphreysfg https://www.facebook.com/endakennyofficial/ https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd/ Tel: +353 (0)1-631 3802 or (01) 631 3800 (Heather Humphreys) Tel: +353 (0)1-6194020 (Enda Kenny) Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 (Michael Creed) Contact all your local TDs now. Demand that they urgently push for a ban on hare coursing and all bloodsports. Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=32&disp=mem Write to your TDs at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 337 889. Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics. THE TDs WHO VOTED AGAINST A BAN ON HARE COURSING http://www.banbloodsports.com/ln160812.htm