Hares were hit and pinned to the ground by dogs - and one hare suffered injuries so severe, he was destroyed by a vet - at a recent coursing meeting in Ballyheigue.
Documents published on the website of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (which shamefully licenses the bloodsport) show that on the first day of the 3-day coursing meeting in County Kerry, 2 hares were pinned to the ground by greyhounds and were examined by a vet for injuries. One of the hares "required treatment from vet for injuries" and was subsequently destroyed https://www.npws.ie/sites/default/files/files/coursing-ballyheigue-2018-19.pdf
On Day 2, another hare was pinned to the ground by the dogs and examined for injuries by a vet.
On the third day, a National Parks ranger monitoring the coursing noted that another two hares were hit by the dogs.
A total of 97 hares were netted from the wild for the meeting held on 12th, 13th and 14th October 2018.
At last year's Ballyheigue meeting, six hares were pinned to the ground and examined for injuries by a vet. The previous year, two hares were examined for injuries - one was confirmed injured and died as a result of the injuries.
How appalling that our government, in 2018, continues to allow this obscene bloodsport to continue. It is particularly shameful that Minister Josepha Madigan and the National Parks and Wildlife Service issued licences for this latest season of coursing, given the recent warnings from wildlife experts that the hare is in trouble, with numbers declining.
The Irish Hare should be afforded every protection to safeguard its future but instead, our politicians are pandering to the small minority who consider it entertaining to snatch hares from the wild, release them into an enclosure and watch as they run from dogs.
The hares hit/killed at Ballyheigue are just some of the thousands of victims of coursing. All suffer fear and stress - they don't know the dogs are muzzled and so are effectively running for their lives.
Hares who get hit by the dogs are at risk of sustaining painful life-ending injuries. Hares who survive the ordeal may later die from the stress-related condition known as capture myopathy which can claim lives in the days, weeks and months after coursing. Every coursing season, hare injuries and deaths are recorded.
This depraved practice has no place in modern Ireland; it should have been banned decades ago. It is time for the majority who love and value our wildlife heritage to unite to demand a long overdue ban on coursing. Please help bring coursing to an end by responding to the action alert below.
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 - no hare coursing, no hare hunting, no hare shooting. 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
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below)
Dear Minister Madigan,
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
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Tweet to @campaignforLeo
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/
Please contact all your local politicians and ask them to push for a ban on this blood sport. Encourage your friends, family and workmates to contact them too. 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.
Support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports