A Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss will be meeting over the coming months to deliberate on threats to Ireland’s biodiversity.

Let’s hope that the plight of the persecuted Irish Hare will feature in the Assembly’s deliberations.

This mammal that conservationists have dubbed the “flagship of Irish biodiversity” is at the mercy of people who get their kicks from watching it run from hyped –up greyhounds. Hares are mauled, have their bones crushed, or get tossed into the air like rag dolls. Hares also die post-coursing of stress-related ailments.

Even the arrival in Ireland of the RHD2 virus that is fatal to hares and rabbits and can be spread by coursing activities didn’t faze the politicians who back this barbarism.

If Ireland’s government really wishes to address our biodiversity crisis, should it not be concerned about the signal it’s sending out by allowing the very symbol of our wonderful wildlife heritage to be used as LIVE BAIT in coursing? 

Please asked the Citizen’s Assembly on Biodiversity Loss to recommend a complete ban on hare coursing in Ireland.

Send your submissions to: submissions@citizensassembly.ie

Write your own appeal or you can use this one (or parts of it) if you wish:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I urge the Citizen’s Assembly to address the horrific practice of live hare coursing in Ireland as part of its in-depth consideration of threats to Ireland’s biodiversity.

This practice not only causes immense suffering to the animals but also threatens the very survival of the Irish Hare as a species. The RHD2 virus, which is fatal to hares and rabbits and can be spread by coursing activities, is rampant in the Irish countryside. It could wipe out the Irish Hare and that would represent an ecological catastrophe.

The Irish hare has been in decline for the past half century as a result of habitat loss arising from urbanization and the downside of modern agriculture. Given these negative factors and the RHD2 menace it is conceivable that the Irish government should allow coursing to continue.

Please recommend a complete ban on hare coursing in Ireland.

Thanking you,