Foxhunt internship ad removed but JobBridge support remains

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has learned that although an advert for a foxhunting internship was recently removed from the JobBridge website, the Department of Social Protection is shamefully continuing to offer support for the position. In an email, a JobBridge representative told ICABS: "While the advert has been taken down, the company can still fill the internship vacancy provided they continue to meet the Terms & Conditions of the scheme." The JobBridge internship is for a "whipper-in" with the Waterford Hunt. During foxhunting activities, a whipper-in assists the huntsman with the pack of hounds released to chase, catch and tear a fox apart. The advert stated that on completion, the intern "will have attained skills in whipping in and will be positioned well to take up a position in hunt service as a whipper in and continue their training to take up the role of a professional huntsman". On 22nd March, TDs Ruth Coppinger and Clare Daly urged Minister Joan Burton to intervene to stop hunts from using the taxpayer-funded scheme to fill positions. Joan Burton's response was that as foxhunting isn't illegal, the hunt is entitled to use it. "There are a range of occupations, including those in the hunt sports sector, that some people may find objectionable for one reason or another," she said. "Other examples include aspects of the meat or fishing industry, or those related to gambling, In these cases as long as the occupation is valid, the activity is not illegal and the internship offered complies with the general terms and conditions of the JobBridge scheme the Department cannot preclude it from availing of the JobBridge." Sadly, no sympathy from Minister Burton for the foxes terrorised across the countryside, chased to exhaustion and ripped apart by the hunt's pack of hounds. As our petition continues to gain support, with over 3,500 signatures so far, ICABS is pushing the Department to withdraw its support for the €52 per week internship. We have brought to its attention a report from the Irish Field which outlines how during a Waterford Foxhounds hunt, "hounds marked their fox to ground after an hour and a half, having covered more than six miles". The pace of the hunt was said to have been "fast and furious" and saw the fox being chased across fields, roads and into a gully. ACTION ALERT Tell Joan Burton and the Department of Social Protection to immediately exclude animal cruelty groups from its JobBridge scheme. Email "JobBridge – Stop offering foxhunting internship" to joan.burton@oireachtas.ie, qcs@welfare.ie, press.office@welfare.ie, Moyra.Carey@welfare.ie Phone Joan Burton’s office: +353 (0)1-6184006 Tweet @joanburtontd @welfare_ie "JobBridge – Stop offering foxhunting internship" Witness the cruelty of foxhunting at http://www.banbloodsports.com/v-fox.htm