4 hares were hit and pinned to the ground by greyhounds and three died during cruel coursing in Macroom, recently published reports have revealed.
According to the documents uploaded to the National Parks and Wildlife Service website, the hares suffered and died during the 2-day Macroom and Blarney coursing meeting in January of this year.
https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/files/71_%20Macroom%20Reports.pdf
The reports show that on Day 1 of the shameful event, 1 hare was caught by the dogs and pinned to the ground. The animal was retrieved and examined for injuries. According to a veterinary report, one hare "died from natural causes" but it is not clear if this dead hare was the one who was hit.
It is outrageous to refer to the death of any hare in a coursing enclosure as "natural". There is absolutely nothing natural about hares being snatched from the wild in nets, manhandled, trapped in a coursing compound and used as live lures for dogs to chase in front of a merciless mob. If this particular hare was pinned to the ground, the cause of death may have been fatal internal injuries. Another possible cause of death was capture myopathy - a stress-related condition which can claim the lives of hares during coursing and in the days/weeks/months after they are released back to the wild.
On Day 2 of the Macroom and Blarney meet, another 3 hares were pinned by the dogs and two of these hares died from their injuries. The third hare was also injured and treated by a vet. It is not known if this hare survived.
According to the coursers, one hare was "unaccounted for" after the meeting.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has called on Minister Josepha Madigan and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to investigate the apparent disappearance of a further five hares. The hare capture report reveals that a total of 72 hares were netted from the wild but at the start of the coursing meeting, there were only 67 hares.
We have renewed our appeal to Minister Madigan to revoke the 2018-19 coursing licence she issued which allows Macroom and Blarney coursing club and others around the country to mercilessly net thousands more hares and subject them to cruel coursing during the upcoming season.
"Given the continuing injuries and deaths of hares in coursing, and the recently expressed concerns by wildlife expert Dr Karina Dingerkus that hare numbers are in decline and the species is 'in trouble', we renew our appeal to you to please revoke the 2018-19 coursing licence," we stated in our appeal to Minister Madigan.
On RTE's Mooney Goes Wild programme on 11 March 2018, Dr Dingerkus (who has a PhD on the ecology and distribution of the Irish hare) said that "over the last 50 years, numbers have declined significantly." "We know that hare populations do fluctuate naturally but we don't know by how much," she stated. "We certainly know that numbers have declined...We don't see very many...Certainly over the past 50 years, we know numbers have dropped dramatically...they're in trouble...we do know that they have been dropping over a long period of time." Mooney Goes Wild reporter Terry Flanagan noted that "there is an overall trend over the past number of years and that trend is downwards." https://www.rte.ie/radio1/mooney/programmes/2018/0311/946698-mooney-goes-wild-sunday-11-march-2018/
ACTION ALERT
With warnings from wildlife experts that the Irish Hare is in trouble, it is now more clear than ever that the species must be given full protection. Urgently contact Minister Josepha Madigan and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and demand that they revoke the 2018-19 hare coursing licence and end all forms of hare persecution.
Minister Josepha Madigan
Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Email: josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie, ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie, wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie, john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie, Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie, nature.conservation@ahg.gov.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://facebook.com/JosephaMadiganFG
Tweet to: @josephamadigan
John Fitzgerald
Director, National Parks and Wildlife Service
Phone: +353 (0)1 888 3242
Email: john.fitzgerald@ahg.gov.ie
VIDEOS
See the cruelty of hare coursing on our Youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/icabs
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below)
Dear Minister,
I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to demand that you revoke the 2018-19 hare netting licence that has shamefully been issued.
In coursing, hares suffer and die at all stages - during the capture, during the time they are kept in captivity and during the coursing meetings where they run for their lives in front of greyhounds. Among the injuries recorded are broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.
I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and end this cruelty.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Location]
The Irish Hare is a protected species but an exemption for coursing in the Animal Health and Welfare Act means coursers are not liable for prosecution for their cruelty. Join us in our call to the government to remove the exemption and provide full and permanent protection to this cherished species.
Contact An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and ask him to ban hare coursing and give permanent protection to hares.
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
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Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign and share the petition
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland