This weekend, the hare coursing cruelty season culminates in the national finals of live hare baiting (coursing) at Powerstown Park, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, with three days of barbarism, where defenceless, timid hares, cruelly snatched from the wild, are forced to run as live bait before greyhounds, compliments of the Minister for Arts Heritage, Heather Humphreys, who last August licensed the coursers to grab up to 5,000 hares from the wild, and Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney who refused to outlaw the vile practice when the new Animal Welfare Act came into being in 2012. Hare coursing had to be specifically exempted from prosecution in the Act, Minister Coveney obviously recognising that it is cruel, yet shamefully, Ministers Coveney and Humphreys, in pandering to a minority of animal abusers, facilitate this mediaeval barbarism, which is outlawed in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Hares Still Being Injured And Killed Despite Muzzles Hares continue to be injured and killed at these diabolical events, despite the introduction of muzzles in 1993, and every single hare is subjected to horrendous fear and stress, beginning with its capture in a net from the wild to the day it is forced to run for its life in front of two greyhounds. See video footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXatH8LmWjw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etQ-JCtJy9Y Every year, after the hare baiting season is over, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports requests National Parks & Wildlife Service reports on meetings monitored, and the last reports received (2013/14) revealed that monitoring was down significantly on previous years, due we understand to the fact that National Parks wildlife rangers are no longer paid for weekend work, when hare coursing usually takes place. In a new departure, the coursers, who are required to make returns to the National Parks & Wildlife Service, detailing numbers of hares mauled, injured and killed, euphemistically describe hares being struck and mauled by greyhounds as “requiring assistance”. For example, at Doon & District, 4 hares “required assistance” and were put down by the vet because of their injuries; at Dundalk and Dowdallshill, 6 hares “required assistance”, 4 were euthanised by vet and 3 died of “natural causes”, and in Tradaree in November 2013, the coursers claimed that 6 hares “required assistance”, resulting in 3 dying of “natural causes” though no post mortems were carried out to establish cause of deaths, while at the same meeting, the National Parks ranger stated that 13 hares were struck by dogs, and 3 were “found dead in the paddock” the next day. And at Gorey, the National Parks ranger cited 4 hares hit by dogs, with 2 dying of their injuries, while the coursers cited 3 hares “requiring assistance” and 1 put down, which points to the fact that we can expect the coursers to minimise the number of victims. In another case, New Ross, the National Parks ranger cited 14 hares struck by dogs, while coursers claimed that only 11 hares were struck. Coursers Intimidate Wildlife Ranger Meanwhile at Liscannor, a ranger was “intimidated” when she asked to check the hare paddock, and at Mallow, when a time was arranged with the National Parks ranger for a supervised release of hares, the coursers failed to turn up and refused to provide a contact phone number. Failure to cooperate with the NPWS ranger is a breach of the licence conditions, yet a blind eye was turned to this by the head honchos in the National Parks and no action was taken against either club, despite these breaches which Minister Heather Humphreys said would “not be tolerated”. At Fermoy, a vet failed to attend to a hare which had been hit, with the ranger stating: “…I asked that the vet look at the hit hare but he did not come.” It is a condition of the hare netting licence that a vet be in attendance at coursing meetings. Irish Coursing Club Recommends Killing Greyhounds In another revelation, an internal document on the website of the Irish coursing club, the governing authority for this hare baiting activity, advises greyhound owners to put down dogs past their usefulness, rather than rehoming; it also instructs “dispatchers” (those who wring the necks of injured hares) to make sure they are well away from public view. The coursing clubs also include a dictat that unauthorised photography is strictly forbidden, something ICABS monitors fell foul of last February (2014) at Clonmel when they were dragged from the venue for daring to film terrified hares running for their lives. At another venue, Millstreet, last month, where coursing was held in a public park, the coursers told us to stop filming, saying that if we were in any other venue: “Ye would have the sh*t kicked out of ye”. It is way past time for this barbarism to be banned and for our legislators to get their heads out of the sand and show some compassion for our vulnerable persecuted wildlife. ACTION ALERTS Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign and share petitions Stop Licensing Cruel Hare Coursing https://www.change.org/p/minister-heather-humphreys-don-t-license-cruel-hare-coursing Save Irish hares from cruel coursing https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/minister-simon-coveney-replace-hare-coursing-with-drag-coursing Urge Minister Heather Humphreys to show compassion for the persecuted Irish Hare and revoke the coursing licence she issued. Email "Stop the cruelty. Revoke the hare coursing licence" to Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie,ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie,taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,joan.burton@oireachtas.ie,wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie,Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie Tel: (01) 631 3802 or (01) 631 3800 Leave a comment on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/heather.humphreysfg Tweet to Heather Humphreys: @HHumphreysFG SAMPLE LETTER (If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below. Be assertive, but polite, in all correspondence. Thank you.) Dear Minister, I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to urge you to revoke the licence you issued to the Irish Coursing Club. In coursing, hares suffer 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. Every season, hare injuries and deaths are documented. I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and permanently revoke the licence. Thank you. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] Appeal to the Minister for Agriculture Please appeal to the Minister for Agriculture to remove an exemption for hare coursing from the Animal Health and Welfare Act. Simon Coveney, TD Minister for Agriculture Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Email: Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie Tel: 01-607 2884 or LoCall 1890-200510. Fax: 01-661 1013. Urgently contact An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and ask him to back a ban on hare coursing. An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2 Telephone: 01-6194020 Fax: 01-6764048 Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie Contact all your local TDs now. Demand that they urgently push for a ban on hare coursing and all bloodsports. Tell them you are one of the majority who want coursing banned. Remind them that coursing is already illegal in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. Urge them to respect the wishes of the majority of the electorate and back a ban.