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Animal Voice - March 2008
Campaign newsletter of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports In This Issue:
01. This St Patrick's Day, celebrate Ireland's wildlife heritage
01. This St Patrick's Day, celebrate Ireland's wildlife heritage This St Patrick's Day, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports is calling on Ireland to celebrate our fabulous wildlife heritage. We are asking people to become more active in the campaign against the blood sports which result in Irish animals being cruelly abused and killed throughout the countryside. ICABS wishes all its friends and supporters a Happy St Patrick's Day. To find out how you can help bring blood sports to an end in Ireland, please visit the Join ICABS page. During the St Patrick's Day weekend, please also spare a few minutes to respond to our urgent action alerts below. Send a copy of the action alerts to your friends and ask them to get involved. Thank you.
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland - Urgent Action Alert
Please contact your local TD and Senator and ask them to support the campaign against blood sports in Ireland. Demand that they act urgently to protect our wildlife heritage from the appalling acts of cruelty from hunters and coursers.
Contact your TD at:
Contact your Senator at:
For a list of TDs and Senators, please visit the Irish Government website at http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist. For more action alerts, please see items 13 and 14 below. 02. Banned British hunters target Irish foxes ICABS has renewed its appeal for Irish wildlife to be protected after learning that a British foxhunt was invited to Ireland to persecute our foxes. The Limerick Leader has revealed that the Coniston Foxhounds and their pack of 50 hounds came to County Cork this month to take part in a hunting festival. "As part of the Avand[h]u, County Cork hunting festival, Knocknagoshel has been chosen for the date. Coming for the Hunt are a contingent from the Conniston Foxhounds Club in England, with an array of fifty hounds," the Limerick Leader report outlined in a preview last week. The Coniston hunt is based in Cumbria in the North West of England. Hunting foxes with packs of hounds has been banned in the UK since 2005. In a report in this week's Limerick Leader, the hunt was described as having "an international flavour". "For the first time ever a pack of hounds from overseas were seen in action in this locality," it outlined. "After a brief photo call outside the Village Inn, the Bugle sounded and hunters and hounds proceeded up Bohereen Bui to commence hunting along the Cummer Glen. After a slow start excitement mounted when a fox was routed in Knockane, this ensued a most impressive chase along the Owveg Valley, a number of other hunts followed, before all retired for refreshments at the Village Inn." ICABS is sickened to learn that not only are foxes being persecuted by Irish hunters but that English hunters and hounds are now putting our wildlife under even greater pressure. We have demanded action to be taken by the Irish Government to secure protection for the fox species.
STAND UP FOR FOXES - ACTION ALERT 1
Please make a special appeal to Trevor Sargent TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture where new animal welfare legislation is currently being drafted. ICABS welcomed a statement from Minister Sargent last year in which he assured us that the new legislation will "ensure that the welfare of animals is properly protected". Please appeal to him to prioritise fox protection in the new act.
Trevor Sargent TD
Dear Minister Sargent, As one of the two thirds majority of Irish people who want foxhunting banned, I appeal to you to please ensure that foxes are afforded full protection from hunting groups in the new animal welfare legislation being drafted. Please do everything in your power to finally bring foxhunting to an end and protect foxes from this horrendous abuse. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location]
STAND UP FOR FOXES - ACTION ALERT 2
Urge the Minister for Agriculture to protect foxes and all wild creatures from unnecessary cruelty.
Minister Mary Coughlan
Dear Minister Coughlan, I appeal to your sense of compassion to urgently intervene to save foxes from the barbarism of foxhunting. This blood sport is an abhorrent assault on our wildlife heritage and a complete ban is long overdue. Please ensure that Ireland's new animal welfare legislation includes protection for foxes. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 03. Hare hunters refused licence The Irish Council Against Blood Sports welcomes Minister John Gormley's decision to refuse a licence for the hunting of hares with packs of dogs during March. We are now calling on the Minister to work towards introducing a year-round ban on this cruel blood sport. Up to the end of February, the hunters are free to terrorise and kill hares with packs of beagles, with no licence being required, despite the fact that hares are designated a highly protected species in Ireland. There are 129 harrier packs, which hunt both hares and foxes, while there are 22 registered beagle packs hunting hares. Hare hunting on foot with packs of dogs is a low profile blood sport, with enthusiasts claiming that what they do is "harmless", but hares do die horrendous deaths by being ripped apart by packs of dogs, after being terrorised and chased to exhaustion. A report on the Westmeath Beagles in Hounds magazine in 2006 revealed that having taken an "hour to shift her (the hare) out towards the rushy field at the foot of the medieval church...she succumbed to the pack," gaining the hunters their "first notch on the kennel door" for the season. A Dublin motorist who witnessed a hare kill described the sickening scene as follows: "A hare came running down the road. I didn't realise what was happening for a moment until a pack of hounds appeared from round the corner. I got out of the car to try and do something but the hounds had caught up with the hare and totally demolished it. All that was left was a tiny piece of fur blowing in the breeze." The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is calling for a year-round ban on this cruel abuse of Ireland's most gentle and defenceless wild creature. ACTION ALERT Please contact Environment Minister, John Gormley (Green Party), to thank him for his decision to refuse a hare hunting licence for March. Appeal to him to urgently work towards securing full protection for hares by banning hare hunting and hare coursing.
SAMPLE LETTER
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
Dear Minister Gormley, I wish to thank you for refusing a licence for hare hunting during March. This commendable move will go some way towards protecting our precious and unique hare species from persecution. Minister, as you are aware, hares continue to be cruelly abused at other times of the year by groups involved in hare coursing and hare hunting. This despite the fact that the Irish Hare is a protected species and an important part of our wildlife heritage. Your decision to refuse the March licence is very much welcomed by the majority who want hunting and coursing banned. We all hope that this will prove to be just the first step towards affording hares the full protection they deserve. Thank you, Minister. Yours sincerely, Name/Location
04. RTE radio show provides platform for hunt misinformation The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has contacted RTE after a radio programme profiled a hunter who outrageously branded foxes as "vermin" and anti-hunt campaigners as "no good for society". The "Curious Ear" show also gave the hunter an opportunity to make the erroneous claim that hunting with packs of dogs is part of nature. ICABS has asked RTE to stop providing hunters with a platform for spreading misinformation. We have also appealed to them to redress the balance by featuring an anti-hunt campaigner in a future episode.
If you would like to hear the show for yourself, please click on this RTE website link:
Among the misinformation presented on the show by the hunter was: Hounds are bred to hunt "the same as a cat is bred to catch a mouse". The truth: Before foxhounds will chase a fox, they have to be introduced to fox blood. This deplorable practice takes place before the start of the hunting season when hunts bring their new hounds to a fox covert and urge them to attack and kill young fox cubs. This is known as cub hunting, or, in euphemistic hunting terms, "Autumn Hunting".
"Just because some people think it's cruel catching a fox, you can't stop nature"
"[Anti-hunt campaigners] have no idea of country life or the way it works, they are no good for society"
"Healthy foxes rarely get killed"
"Foxes are vermin - foxes will kill everything"
ACTION ALERT Please contact RTE and ask them to redress the balance by featuring an anti-hunt campaigner on a future episode of the "Curious Ear" programme.
Ronan Kelly
05. Heritage Council questioned over wildlife grant to gun club The awarding of a wildlife grant to a gun club has been questioned by ICABS Vice President, Tony Gregory, TD. The Leitrim shooting group received 4,000 Euro from the Heritage Council under its 2007 Wildlife Grants Scheme. ICABS is calling for groups connected to wildlife killing to be excluded from future grant schemes. In a Dail Question to Environment Minister John Gormley, Deputy Gregory questioned the appropriateness of giving a grant to a gun club. Although the Minister outlined that he is not responsible for choosing grant recipients, he confirmed that the Council's function is to "propose policies and priorities for the...protection, preservation and enhancement of the national heritage." In a letter to the Heritage Council, ICABS asked how they could justify a wildlife grant to a group involved in shooting wildlife. The grant was for a red grouse habitat survey and habitat management plan. Responding, Heritage Council, Wildlife Officer, Cliona O'Brien stated: "Council assessed the project application on its own merits, determined the project met the relevant criteria and was awarded a grant." The gun club which received the grant is affiliated to the National Association of Regional Game Councils whose members are responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of wild creatures every year. In 2006, following representations from ICABS to the Heritage Council (relating to a massive grant for the eradication of rabbits from an island), we were led to believe that in the future, the Heritage Council would consider avoiding projects with connections to animal killing. A Heritage Council spokesperson stated at the time: "The Heritage Council will address this more seriously in the grant programme from here on out. I would hope that for the 2007 round of grant awards, policy advice in this area will have been developed and issued from the Heritage Council where necessary." ICABS has renewed its appeal to the Heritage Council to give a commitment that no further funds will be awarded to groups involved in the killing of Irish wildlife. Please help by responding to the action alert below. ACTION ALERT Please contact the Heritage Council and ask them to exclude from its grant schemes any group connected with killing animals.
Cliona O'Brien,
Email: cliona@heritagecouncil.com
06. Animal Voice - Print and distribute today! The February-March edition of Animal Voice is now available to download as a printable pdf file. Please help spread the word about the campaign against blood sports - download and distribute Animal Voice today.
Download now
07. Outrage at killing of "magnificent" neighbourhood fox The shooting of a fox by a Dublin golf club has left locals outraged. The fox, which the club claims was damaging greens, has been described by neighbours as a magnificent and fascinating creature. According to a report in the Irish Independent, a woman and her two children were in a "terrible state" after witnessing the shooting. ICABS shares the outrage of residents at the killing of this fox. We have told Milltown Golf Club that foxes should be viewed as an asset in that they add to the character of the course and that most golfers cherish the sight of wildlife. We have urged the club to consider non-lethal methods if foxes really need to be deterred. It is heartening to learn that those living in Milltown value the presence of foxes in their neighbourhood. The vast majority of citizens, both urban and rural, have a genuine appreciation for wildlife and would welcome increased protection from the kind of wanton destruction displayed on the local golf course. It's time now for our animal welfare laws to be updated to give wild animals the same protection as domestic animals. Foxes continue to be among Ireland's most abused species. In the countryside, they are erroneously demonised out of all proportion and suffer relentless and widescale persecution. They are shot, usually at night by gunmen, who use high powered lamps to dazzle the creatures (gun clubs even compete on the numbers of foxes shot). They are also dug out of their earths and attacked underground by terriers where horrific battles take place, resulting in terrible injuries to both dogs and fox. They are hounded around the countryside by mounted hunters and packs of hounds, and if caught, they are ripped apart; if they find sanctuary underground, they are dug out by the hunt terriermen to meet their fate. They are also caught in snares where they die slow and agonising deaths. All this vile activity is carried out for "sport", thinly masquerading as so-called pest control. However, foxes are not considered a major agricultural threat, according to experts. Incidents of predator attacks on lambs, including attacks by dogs and other animals, while dramatic and upsetting, are relatively low statistically. According to figures quoted by Teagasc in an article in the Irish Independent last year, the leading causes of lamb deaths were starvation and exposure to the elements 30%, difficult lambing 25%, infectious diseases 20%, and physical injury 15%. Furthermore, in 1992, a pilot study on lamb losses (Dept. of Agriculture Veterinary Lab, Athlone) showed generally similar results, with predation (including all kinds of predators) and misadventure (accidents, drownings, etc.) combined, cited at only 5%. The UK Ministry of Agriculture found much the same, citing predation at a mere 1%, adding that they did not consider foxes to be a significant factor in lamb mortality. Meanwhile, Zoologist and author, Prof. James Fairley, in his 'An Irish Beast Book', deals with the erroneous perception some people hold, saying: "A great deal many allegations of lamb killing are based on insufficient or even non-existent evidence. When interviewing farmers, I found that in some cases, a dead, unwounded animal or the mere disappearance of a lamb were attributed to the work of the fox." Another Zoologist, Dr AD Scott, BSc PhD MBOU, concurs: "I've worked at fox dens in all areas covering every aspect of prey possibilities. I've observed what adult foxes have brought in, I've analysed countless numbers of scats or droppings, and also the stomach contents of many animals. Game birds were insignificant, and so too were poultry, and the only two lambs I've ever found at dens were already dead before they were carried in. They were in fact carrion mutton." ACTION ALERT Please contact Milltown Golf Club and appeal to them to stop killing wildlife which comes on to their course. Tell them that the presence of wildlife adds to the atmosphere and character of a golf course and that many golfers would cherish the sight of a fox. Encourage them to use non-lethal methods if they really need to deter foxes.
Denis McDowell
Email: info@milltowngolfclub.ie
08. Irish Times poll captured only part of foxhunt opposition ICABS is happy to note that a recent Irish Times opinion poll has again confirmed that a majority of Irish people want foxhunting banned. However, we wish to reveal that due to a concerted effort by international hunting networks, the online poll only partly captured the opposition to this cruel activity. Hunting forums confirmed the cynical strategy, with hunters boasting that they spent hours clicking on the "No" button. "It takes multiple votes," exclaimed one hunter excitedly. "I've lost count of the number of times I've voted," responded another. It became what one described as a "worldwide battle" with hunters from every corner of the globe being drafted in to help sway the outcome. Even the Virginia-based Masters of Foxhounds Association of America lent their support. "You can vote as many times as you like," Executive Director, Lt. Col. Dennis J. Foster, announced. "Please help our Irish Brothers and vote to save foxhunting." This is not the first poll overrun by hunters desperate to twist the truth. Last year, a Cork radio station complained that a local survey became the focus of British hunters so enthusiastic to cast their text votes that they crashed the system. Previously, a poll on the ISPCA website was targeted by serial clickers who delighted in seeing support for their blood sport apparently increasing. The reality - as confirmed by a scientifically conducted Millward Brown poll - is that a mere 16 per cent of people want foxhunting to remain. In stark contrast, 68 per cent view foxhunting as cruel, with 64 per cent favouring a total government ban. 09. Noel Treacy asked to stop pandering to hunters In a letter to the editor published in the Galway Independent this week, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports has suggested that insead of pandering to hunters, Noel Treacy, TD should "respect the overwhelming wishes of the electorate and commit to safeguarding our wildlife heritage". Please see below for the full text of the letter along with an action alert to Deputy Treacy.
Massive majority want ban on blood sports
Dear Editor, 'When I was in charge of the Wildlife Service, I got constant letters from the Irish Council Against Blood Sports to ban hunting and only ever got one letter pro-hunting,' Noel Treacy, TD was quoted as saying in the Galway Independent of 23 January 2008. Addressing hunters at a meeting in Ballinasloe, the former Minister of State suggested that this could be a case of complacency on the part of the blood sport enthusiasts. The more likely explanation for Deputy Treacy's anti-blood sports postbag towering over a solitary letter is that a massive majority in this country want a ban on activities involving animal cruelty. Most agree that it's totally unacceptable to unleash a pack of hounds to chase a fox for hours before ripping it to bits. Also predominantly opposed is the snatching of thousands of hares from their habitats and forcing them to run for dear life in front of greyhounds. This has been confirmed by the latest Millward Brown opinion polls which found that around two out of every three Irish adults want the government to outlaw foxhunting and hare coursing. Instead of pandering to a merciless minority, Deputy Treacy should respect the overwhelming wishes of the electorate and commit to safeguarding our wildlife heritage. ACTION ALERT Remind Deputy Noel Treacy that a majority of Irish people, (including, presumably, a majority of the Galway electorate) want blood sports banned. Ask him to stop standing up for animal cruelty which results in wildlife enduring unimaginable suffering and the most horrific of deaths.
Noel Treacy, TD
Email: noel.treacy@oireachtas.ie
10. View all ICABS videos on your mobile phone Thanks to Youtube Mobile, millions more people are now be able to witness the cruelty of blood sports in Ireland. With the ability to watch all of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports' videos on a compatible mobile phone, our campaign is set to reach an even wider audience nationally and around the world. Anyone with a phone which supports RTSP streaming can view the ICABS videos by accessing: http://m.youtube.com/icabs Note: The videos are free to view but please be aware that you will be charged by your service provider based on the amount of data downloaded. Please check rates before viewing videos on your mobile phone. The videos may also be viewed online at www.youtube.com/icabs or by clicking on Videos at www.banbloodsports.com Among the range of videos currently available to view on the ICABS channel are:
* Ban Foxhunting in Ireland
ACTION ALERT Please help expose the cruelty of blood sports in Ireland. Tell others about the ICABS video channel and ask them to join the campaign against these cruel activities:
Help educate your local politicians about the cruelty of blood sports by urging them to watch the videos. Ask them to give a commitment that they will work towards banning foxhunting, hare coursing, mink hunting and carted deer hunting in Ireland. Display one or more videos on your website. To copy the display codes, please visit our Videos page and click on the video links. Thank you. To find out more about the technical requirements of compatible phones, please see below.
Will my mobile device work with YouTube Mobile?
There are 2 technical requirements you have to meet in order to watch videos on YouTube Mobile from your mobile device: 1. Your device has to support RTSP streaming. To determine if your mobile device supports this type of streaming, you may want to check your device's manual to find a description of its specifications. 2. Your service carrier has to allow streaming videos. You may want to contact your carrier for more information about the availability of data streaming on your mobile device. For more information about using YouTube Mobile, you can go to www.youtube.com/mobile from your computer's browser. Now you can use your mobile phone to help expose the cruelty of foxhunting. Download our new campaign video on to your 3G phone or mp3/mp4 player and play it to your friends, family and workmates. Ask them to join the call on the government to ban this deplorable blood sport.
Ban Foxhunting in Ireland - 3gp video
1. Download Now on to your PC and transfer to your compatible 3G mobile phone *. 2. Download directly on to your 3G mobile phone - enter the Internet or Web menu of your phone and input http://homepage.eircom.net/~icabs3/fh.3gp (This is a free video but you will be charged your standard network rate for connecting/downloading. Please check with your service provider for rates before downloading). 3. Show the video to as many people as possible 4. Ask them to contact their local TDs, Senators and Councillors with the message: "I support a ban on foxhunting in Ireland".
Ban Foxhunting in Ireland - mp4 video
1. Download Now and transfer on to your mp4 player (or mp3 player with video playing capability) *.
Only thing to be learned from hunting debate is that hunters are bullies
Dear Editor, I attended a debate 'That this house would ban hunting' on Wednesday 5 March in NUI, Galway. While I am totally opposed to hunting along with all forms of animal cruelty, I listened intently to the speakers who opposed the motion to learn just what they had to say. One of the main points made by the pro-hunters was that they were doing the country a favour by controlling the numbers of foxes. However one PhD student stated that he does not know how many foxes are actually in Ireland. His entire research was based on UK figures (where fox hunting has been banned). The other core point made by the pro-hunter side was that they are only hunting sick and old foxes and that the young, fit animals get away. I fail to see the logic in this. The pro-hunting audience continuously heckled, jeered, interrupted and booed at every anti-hunt speaker. It seemed like a hunt was taking place in the theatre. I took grave exception when Mr Scallan said that all country people agree with hunting. I live in County Galway and I certainly do not. I did not learn anything that night that would even start to change my mind. The one thing I did learn was that the hunters are bullies.
Until we stop harming other living beings, we are still savages
Dear Editor, When is a debate not a debate? When one side of the debate seeks to bully and intimidate the other side into submission. This was certainly the case at last week's NUIG Inter-Societies Debating Forum when many of those supporting the motion for the debate 'That This House Would Ban Hunting' were laughed at and ridiculed by the opposing faction. This debate may have been an academic exercise for the students of the Inter-Societies Debating Forum, but their organisers were visibly shocked at the levels of aggression they had to contend with from the pro-hunting lobby, and for this their chairperson, who did his best to keep order throughout, should be congratulated. The pro-hunting lobby, having been bussed in from the four corners of Ireland to support their cause, grossly outnumbered the anti-hunters. This is, of course, not the fault of the hunters, but it does indicate their determination to fight their corner. Poll after poll reveals that 80 per cent of the Irish population stand firmly against hunting of all species as a sport. It is a great pity that this 80 per cent did not bother to turn up to this debate, perhaps believing that the debate was an 'open and shut' case for the anti-hunters. At no point throughout the evening was the pro-hunting lobby able to produce one piece of accurate factual evidence to support its argument that hunting is the optimum method of population control. One of the two main pro-hunting platform speakers admitted that he had no idea how many foxes are in Ireland, yet he and every supporting speaker vowed that hunting was necessary to keep down numbers. This illogical admission was shortly followed by a figure of €280 million being quoted as hunting's contribution to the Irish economy. On questioning, the same speaker could not stand over this figure or enlighten the audience on how it had been calculated. Illogical, irrelevant arguments were cast around like confetti, with the real issue of the debate being carefully air-brushed out; this being that hunters hunt for the thrill of the chase and the buzz they get from terrorising outnumbered animals, be those animals wild foxes or tame deer. Anti-hunters had to endure the usual catalogue of clichés such as: urban v rural (only 'townies' are anti-hunting and pro-hunters are the real guardians of the countryside), as well as: foxes enjoy the run and mostly outrun their predators. If this is the case, then how could fox hunting possibly be a viable method of population control? More pro-hunting illogical statistics told the audience that 80 per cent of foxes are not hunted at all, and of the remaining 20 per cent, 80 per cent of those escape. From my calculations that means that only four per cent of foxes are ever caught, and that these are supposedly elderly, sickly animals. And this is supposed to be a serious argument for population control? All arguments put forward from the pro-hunting side were pretty much an insult to the intelligence of the average person. Most of the pro-hunting speakers for example insisted that wild animals, such as foxes and deer, do not possess the human feelings of terror or pain. I suggest that any person, from any background, who has watched a tame (carted) deer running for its life by the very people who feed it, or witnessed hounds ripping apart a fox, which has sometimes been thrown to them by the hunters themselves, would be ashamed to be classified as a member of a human race that brags about possessing a higher intelligence. The true essence of a higher intelligence is evidenced when it is combined with compassion and respect for all forms of life, and to rejoice in sharing our planet with every creature that supports Earth's eco-system. It's a pity that Thomas A Edison could not have attended this 'debate'. Maybe those who hunt for fun would have respected his words: 'Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages'.
Irish hare is thrown lifeline
I am delighted to learn that Environment Minister John Gormley has moved to protect Ireland's hare population during the month of March - part of the sensitive breeding season. In previous years the country's 22 registered beagling clubs, not content with five full months of organised bloodletting, requested and received government approval to pursue their obsessive killing of hares into March. This meant that breeding females could be legally baited in that month. Some day, hopefully, the Irish hare will be protected from all forms of cruelty, the whole year round; but Mr Gormley's initiative represents an important milestone along the road to abolition. Online Comments: If you'll pardon the phrase, it's about bloody time! The sooner all bloodsports (how is it "sport"?!) are banned outright in this country, the better. Posted by Gavin, 11.03.08
Foxhunting and abuse of foxes - a Mullingar viewpoint
Dear Editor Just weeks after the Westmeath Hunt admitted mercilessly digging a fox out of its earth and seeing hounds tear it asunder, fresh details have emerged about this group's appalling abuse of foxes. According to a report in the Irish Field last month, a fox terrorised by the hunt was forced to swim twice across the Royal Canal in a desperate bid to save its skin. "The fox and the pack swam across the canal," the disturbing report reveals, "and continued along the banks to the Mullingar/Ballynacargy Road". From here, "the fox, with four and a half couple (9 hounds) in pursuit, swam the canal again before retracing their steps back to Newman's Bog." This relentless harassment of foxes is typical of the cruelty inherent in hunting but it serves as a stark reminder that wildlife is being brutally abused on our own doorstep. The Irish Field described the 40 minute chase as "a really exciting run" during "a great day of sport" but anyone with an ounce of compassion would find this utterly distasteful. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports hopes that the canal fox's ordeal will make local landowners consider the cruelty they are facilitating by inviting hunts on to their land. We ask all landowners to please stand up for our wildlife heritage by posting "No Hunting" signs along property boundaries and putting a notice in The Topic warning hunts to stay away. We also appeal to hunt followers who are uncomfortable with the cruelty to press for a changeover to draghunting. This 21st Century alternative will not take away your enjoyment of following hounds along waterways, over stone walls and across bogs. 13. Action Alerts: Ban Foxhunting ACTION ALERT 1 Please make a special appeal to Trevor Sargent TD, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture where new animal welfare legislation is currently being drafted. ICABS welcomed a statement from Minister Sargent last year in which he assured us that the new legislation will "ensure that the welfare of animals is properly protected". Please appeal to him to prioritise fox protection in the new act.
Trevor Sargent TD
Email: tsargent@greenparty.ie
Dear Minister Sargent, As one of the two thirds majority of Irish people who want foxhunting banned, I appeal to you to please ensure that foxes are afforded full protection from hunting groups in the new animal welfare legislation being drafted. Please do everything in your power to finally bring foxhunting to an end and protect foxes from this horrendous abuse. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] ACTION ALERT 2 Urge the Minister for Agriculture to protect foxes and all wild creatures from unnecessary cruelty.
Minister Mary Coughlan
Dear Minister Coughlan, I appeal to your sense of compassion to urgently intervene to save foxes from the cruelty of foxhunting. Foxhunting is an abhorrent assault on our wildlife heritage and a complete ban is long overdue. Please ensure that Ireland's new animal welfare legislation includes protection for foxes. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] ACTION ALERT 3 Please urgently appeal to your local politicians Please join us in telling all of Ireland's TDs that it is now time to replace foxhunting with the humane alternative - drag hunting. Drag hunting sees the hounds chasing an artificial lure instead of a live animal. This form of "hunting" is already practised successfully by a few groups in Ireland. In a modern and civilised country like Ireland, there should be no place for foxhunting, particularly when a transition to drag hunting would be simple. Please stand up for the foxes so cruelly abused by hunting groups - write to all of your local politicians and ask them to act to secure a ban on foxhunting. If possible, get your friends, family and workmates to contact them too. We need as much help with this campaign as possible.
Write to your TD at:
Write to your Senator at:
For a list of TDs and Senators, please visit the Irish Government website at
ACTION ALERT 4 Contact Ireland's forestry board, Coillte, and demand an end to foxhunting on its property.
SAMPLE LETTER
Mr. David Gunning
Email: pr@coillte.ie
Dear Mr Gunning, As an Irish citizen, and thereby a shareholder in Coillte, I am writing to demand an end to foxhunting on Coillte property. I understand that Coillte currently issues permits to a number of foxhunts to carry out blood sport activities in forests. Considering the appalling cruelty of foxhunting and the fact that a majority of Irish people want it outlawed, the time has come for Coillte to do the decent thing and make all of its property off limits to foxhunting groups. Thank you. I look forward to your positive reply. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 14. Action Alerts: Ban Coursing ACTION ALERT 1 Please contact Environment Minister, John Gormley, and appeal to him to give a commitment that this will be the last ever hare coursing season in Ireland.
SAMPLE LETTER
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
Dear Minister Gormley, I am writing to implore you to firmly reject future licence applications from the Irish Coursing Club. Hare coursing is one of Ireland's most appalling forms of animal abuse with thousands of hares being ripped from their natural habitat and forced to run for their lives before muzzled dogs. When hit, the injuries are often so severe that the terrified hares have to be destroyed - but only after suffering from stress, internal injuries such as broken bones. In its pre-election manifesto, the Green Party pledged to ban blood sports when in government. I am among the confident majority who trust that you will take this historic opportunity, Minister, to spare the hares the suffering caused by coursing and refuse further licences to these heartless destroyers of our wildlife heritage. Thank you and best wishes. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] ACTION ALERT 2 Please contact your local TD and Senator and ask them to make an appeal to Minister Gormley on your behalf.
Contact your TD at:
Contact your Senator at: Seanad Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 732 623 (1890 SEANAD)
For a list of TDs and Senators, please visit the Irish Government website at
Tune in to the ICABS Channel Footage of blood sport cruelty and the humane alternatives can be viewed on the ICABS Channel on Youtube - www.youtube.com/icabs or by visiting our Videos Page Become a supporter of ICABS Please become a supporter of ICABS. Annual rates are just 15 Euro (Individual), 20 Euro (Family) and 8 Euro (Unwaged). Download a subscription form at www.banbloodsports.com/subsform.htm and send a cheque (made payable to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports) to ICABS, PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland. You can also become a supporter or make a donation by using your paypal account or credit card. Please visit www.banbloodsports.com and click on the "Donate" button. Thank you. Your support will allow us to continue campaigning against blood sport cruelty in Ireland. Animal Voice - Tell a friend! Help us to highlight our campaigns to even more people. If you have friends who would like to receive "Animal Voice", please ask them to send an email to info@banbloodsports.com with "Animal Voice - Subscribe" in the subject line.
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