Though Tipsy the Hare is the hero of my novel “Time to Stop Running”, other animals feature prominently, as do the issues around how they fare in a world dominated- and ruthlessly exploited- by humans.

I’ve already mentioned the badger, the greyhound, and the falcon, but there’s also the fox, an animal targeted here in Ireland and in Britain for the pleasure of our supposedly higher and more evolved species.

The fox enters the novel as an initial enemy of the hare, until it become evident who the real enemy is: the hunts that are hell bent on chasing down and killing fox and hare alike. I won’t give away anything more of what transpires, in deference to anyone who might wish to read the novel.

In real life, the fox has to be clever to survive, but all the survival instincts in the world can’t save him from the juggernaut of cruelty and mayhem that is the hunt. Not content with hounding the fox for miles across country, the motley gang of thrill seekers, social climbers, and outright sadists who get their kicks from watching the animal running for his life must also see him dragged from his underground refuge and tossed to the waiting pack.

The hunt hounds suffer too: Any dog that fails to perform is culled...shot or beaten to death, just as greyhounds that don’t measure up on the track or in coursing are killed and dumped by their owners.

The fox in the novel fares better, but I want readers to be aware of what faces these beautiful red dogs of the countryside in their one-sided life-long battle with the pathetic dregs of humanity.

Fox hunting is banned in Britain, but hunts continue to find ways around the law, pretending to be drag hunting while actually killing or tormenting foxes or fox cubs. Ireland permits foxhunting in all its horror, and the sight and sound of animals being chased down by judges, bankers, politicians, and property developers and other pillars of society on horseback are commonplace.

I hope that the novel, if only in a small way, will advance the understanding of how an unrepresentative but powerful minority continues to inflict unimaginable suffering on an animal that, like the hare, poses no threat to us humans but greatly enhances our precious and irreplaceable wildlife heritage.

·         Thanks to all who’ve sent good wishes or comments re Time to Stop Running, especially the ones posted on the Amazon page where the book features.

Here’s a link to book info:  

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Stop-Running-John-Fitzgerald-ebook/dp/B07KK1F53Z/