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Animal Voice - November 2008
Campaign newsletter of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports
Also Available: Animal Voice - The 2008 Annual
In This Issue:
01. Join our weekly protest against Gormley's coursing licence - WEEK 5
01. Join our weekly protest against Gormley's coursing licence - WEEK 5
Every week throughout the 2008-09 coursing season, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports will be reminding Minister John Gormley (Green Party) about the suffering being caused to thousands of hares thanks to a licence he granted to the Irish Coursing Club. Please join our ongoing appeal to the Minister by responding to our weekly action alert. The licence issued by Minister Gormley allows thousands of hares to be forcefully removed from the wild in nets. The creatures, which will have suffered the stress of being netted, handled by humans and transported in crates to coursing enclosures, will be kept in captivity for up to three months. During this time, they will be mercilessly used as lures for greyhounds. Some of the hares will be battered and mauled by the greyhounds. Some will sustain injuries so severe that they will die during or following the coursing. All will suffer the fear and stress of running for their lives. Minister Gormley issued this blood sport licence despite compelling conservation reasons for it to be refused. The licence is also contrary to the Green Party's pre-election promise that they would end blood sports in government ACTION ALERT Please send the sample letter below to Minister Gormley or write your own personal letter.
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Gormley, Over the coming days, hares will be used as live lures for greyhounds at coursing meetings in New Ross, Ballyduff and Cavan. The latter will be joined by a club from Northern Ireland where a ban on coursing is now in place. I wish to express my great personal disappointment that this animal cruelty is taking place as a direct result of a licence you chose to grant to the Irish Coursing Club earlier this year. It is especially disappointing that this cruelty has been licensed by you at a time when there are genuine concerns for the future of the species. A report that you yourself issued in May concluded that the conservation status of the Irish Hare is poor and that 'local factors likely to negatively influence hare numbers include hunting.' It is shameful that coursing is still taking place. Minister, please respect the wishes of the majority of the electorate and permanently revoke the current licence. May I also remind you of the Green Party's pre-election promise to end blood sports when in government. Yours sincerely, [*** Insert Your Name and Location Here ***] 02. 22 hares dead in first three weeks of coursing season
ICABS has launched a fresh appeal to Minister John Gormley following sickening revelations that at least 22 hares have been killed during the first three weeks of the current coursing season. The Green Party Minister has been urged to stop the suffering by immediately revoking the licence he issued to the Irish Coursing Club. Details about the number of hare deaths surfaced after ICABS Vice-President, Deputy Tony Gregory, questioned the Minister about recent fatalities. Minister Gormley admitted that coursing meetings from the beginning of the season up to the end of October have resulted in the deaths of at least 22 hares. This figure relates to just 14 meetings out of a total of 19 up to that point in the season which is scheduled to run until March. In a letter of appeal to Minister Gormley, we made an impassioned plea to him to withdraw the licence. "These figures are an explicit reminder that the coursing licence you issued is resulting in terrible stress, injury, suffering and death to this most gentle and inoffensive species. Each of the 22 hares are dead as a direct result of the licence you issued to the Irish Coursing Club. More hares will suffer. More hares will die. Please act now to stop this assault on a species you are entrusted, as Environment Minister, to protect." URGENT ACTION ALERT Join our appeal to Minister John Gormley to withdraw the coursing licence.
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Gormley, I am sickened to learn that the licence you issued to the Irish Coursing Club has already left at least 22 hares dead. I fully support the Irish Council Against Blood Sports appeal to you to immediately stop the suffering by withdrawing this licence. This decent and compassionate move would be welcomed by the majority of Irish people who want this appalling blood sport outlawed. It would also be in line with your party's anti-blood sports stance and your pre-election promise to end blood sports when in government. Yours sincerely, [*** Insert Your Name and Location Here ***] 03. Success: Mid Ireland Tourism thanked for removing foxhunting The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has thanked Mid Ireland Tourism for removing three references to hunting from its website. The tourism body's move came after an appeal in which we highlighted the cruelty of foxhunting. Thanking us for bringing the hunting reference to its attention, Mid Ireland Tourism told ICABS: "Sometimes text is submitted and displayed without being checked for this kind of material. As you will see, we have now deleted all references to 'fox hunting' and 'hunting'." Mid Ireland Tourism, which serves Offaly, Westmeath, North Tipperary, Laois and Galway East, is the latest tourist-related group to disassociate from hunting. Over the years, ICABS has successfully campaigned for blood sports to be excluded from marketing material published by Failte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, East & Midlands Tourism and Aer Lingus. A very big thumbs up to Mid Ireland Tourism for their positive action. Check out their website at http://www.midirelandtourism.ie 04. Success: CentralR thanked for removing foxhunting Hotel reservations company, CentralR, has been thanked for removing a reference to foxhunting from its website. The blood sport had been listed as a local "leisure pursuit" in an entry for a hotel but after an Irish Council Against Blood Sports appeal, the reference was removed. A very big thumbs up to CentralR. ICABS has thanked the company for its positive response. About CentralR: CentralR is Europe's most advanced guide to booking hotel accommodation online. Using innovative technology and first-rate customer service, they offer a safe and easy way for hotels to be booked online or over the phone. They have offices in Ireland, France and Spain. Their website can be viewed at www.centralr.com 05. Peaceful protest against TCD's animal experiments (Thursday) The Animal Rights Action Network has organised a peaceful 1-hour event which aims to "shine the spotlight on the hidden suffering of animals in laboratories across Ireland, including Trinity College". The event follows scathing criticism from author John Banville for Trinity College's use of dogs, cats and other animals in painful and deadly experiments. ARAN is calling on TCD to choose humane alternatives to animal testing that involve no pain, suffering or death. Those who attend the protest are invited to help hold an "Animals Are Not Ours to Experiment On" banner and to distribute educational leaflets about the suffering caused by animal experiments.
Protest details:
06. Anti-blood sports appeal to Press Photographers Association The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has expressed its disappointment to the Press Photographers Association of Ireland after learning that a coursing image has been included in their new "Beyond The Moment" photo book. The photo shows a hare in the air next to two greyhounds on a coursing field. In a letter to the PPAI president, ICABS stated: "It is saddening that out of a pool of 6,000 photographs, one of the images your association chose was one depicting the most horrendous cruelty to the Irish Hare. As pointed out previously to the PPAI and as vividly conveyed in the photograph, hares are subjected to a horrific ordeal in coursing. Some suffer broken bones and other fatal internal injuries." We also highlighted to the PPAI, the abuse, intimidation and violence experienced by ICABS photographers over the years as they documented the suffering endured by hares on coursing fields. Such incidents have included a photographer being dragged from the top of a car and threatened by a stick-wielding coursing club official, placards being waved in front of camera lenses to try and hide the cruelty and water being thrown at photographers. The PPAI's inclusion of the coursing photograph in the book is deeply offensive not only to these photographers but also to the majority of Irish adults who want coursing made illegal. ICABS also complained to the PPAI about:
ACTION ALERT Please join our appeal to the PPAI to stop presenting foxhunting and coursing as sports and to exclude these cruel activities from future AIB Photojournalism Awards, unless they purposefully aim to capture the barbarity involved.
SAMPLE LETTER
Mr Ray McManus
Dear Mr McManus, I am writing to register my objection to the PPAI's categorisation of foxhunting and coursing as "Sports" on your website and in your photo awards. I am also disappointed at the inclusion of a hare coursing photo in your association's "Beyond the Moment" book. I urge you to challenge your members to help expose the absolute barbarity of foxhunting and coursing by explicitly capturing the victims in their moments of suffering. The look of terror in the eyes of a fox in its desperate dash for life and when it is dragged out of the ground by terriers and torn apart by the pack. The agony of a hare as greyhounds smash into it and break its bones. The type of violence that captures the essence of these disgusting activities and gives the viewer a real insight into why a majority want blood "sports" banned. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 07. New book: Bad Hare Days by John Fitzgerald A book by one of Ireland's most vocal and prolific anti-coursing campaigners has this month been published. "Bad Hare Days" by Kilkenny native, John Fitzgerald, documents his unerring determination to help secure a ban on the blood sport and details the devastating persecution he has suffered for his beliefs.
You can purchase the book from
More details about Bad Hare Days
Bad Hare Days by John Fitzgerald
In Ireland the 'humble hare' has been the subject of great controversy. After years of an abusive sport, which resulted in its child-like death screams being heard regularly throughout Ireland, a result was achieved. For those few dedicated people trying desperately to save the gentle creature from the horrors of the cruel sport of hare coursing, the struggle was painful and fought against great odds. The author writes about one of the 'world's most barbaric blood sports' continuing during a deadly period for the hares, the 1980s. His own peaceful and non-violent action and that of, initially, a few others' did arouse the public and achieve what at first appeared to be a hard-won benefit to the hare. But the hare's troubles were - and are - far from over. Though it can no longer be torn apart by greyhounds, now muzzled, it can still be mauled, injured, and tossed about like a rag doll on the coursing field. In addition to highlighting the hare's sad plight, this is also a campaigner's story. The author recounts vividly the ups and downs of his own fight against cruelty. He paid a major price in suffering as a result of being persecuted for his beliefs. The gentle hare, apart from its use and abuse in coursing, has now become an endangered species in Ireland, and this book reinforces its right to be protected. About the Author: John Fitzgerald is a free-lance journalist and writer living in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Before taking up these twin pursuits, he had worked for almost a decade in a farmers' co-operative, during which time he wrote hundreds of letters to newspapers exposing cruelty to animals in general, but hare coursing in particular, as part of a national campaign against blood sports in Ireland. He has been involved for almost three decades in Ireland's anti-hare coursing movement and the present book focuses on a tumultuous phase in the campaign that had a devastating immediate and long-term impact on his life. John Fitzgerald has contributed articles to a number of national and provincial Irish newspapers and to the popular Ireland's Own magazine. He is also the author of four previous books, all dealing with aspects of his native county's heritage, history, and folklore: Kilkenny-People Places Faces, Kilkenny-A Blast from the Past, Callan in the Rare Old Times, and Callan through the Mists of Time. 08. Zero tolerance for hunters and dogs, says farmer whose 200 bulls fled in fright A farmer whose 200 bulls were scared into stampeding has said the incident has left him with a "zero tolerance" for trespassers. Writing in the Farming section of the Irish Independent (November 11 2008), Oliver McDonnell said: "I did not see what happened to spook the bulls in this way, but very badly spooked they most definitely were, with horrendous consequences". Remarking that he has "an idea" as to what caused the stampede, he goes on to emphasise his concerns about shooters trespassing on to farmland. "It is shooting season with the advent of November and I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who think they have a God-given right to trespass and shoot ad lib throughout the night with no regard for either humans or animals. There are serious consequences on the farm from such activities." The incident saw the bulls scattering away from the farm, into forests and out on to the road. Seven hours were spent by the farmer and his neighbours "collecting frightened and shivering bulls and barricading them back into their pads". Bars and gates were bent and twisted and these too had to be sorted out, he says, adding that he has suffered "a considerable financial and physical burden". One of bulls subsequently died while the remainder "are still shivering and shaking from their experience one week later". Mr McDonnell concludes by affirming that he is now "operating a zero tolerance approach and this applies particularly to dogs seen on my land". ICABS Note: Please visit the Farmers section of the ICABS website for information and advice on how to keep hunters off your land. 09. Revealed: The deerhunting licence granted by Minister John Gormley Despite strong appeals for the Ward Union deerhunt to be refused a licence, Green Party Environment Minister, John Gormley sadly gave the hunt the go-ahead in September. We can now reveal Minister Gormley's licence that allows this appalling blood sport to continue for yet another season. The licence allows the Ward Union to hound domesticated deer across the countryside of Counties Meath and Dublin between October 2008 and March 2009.
Download a copy of the Licence and its 34 conditions from:
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports expressed its great disappointment to Minister John Gormley after learning that he issued another licence to the hunt. Another season of cruelty lays ahead for the captive-bred, domesticated deer used by this widely condemned hunt. The deer will be chased to exhaustion during a gruelling chase that puts the animals at risk of sustaining painful cuts, bruises and broken bones. Veterinary documents, obtained by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports under the Freedom of Information Act, have exposed some of the inevitable fatalities that occur during hunts. There was a deer which died of fractured ribs, two deer which died from ruptured aortic aneurisms, a deer which drowned in a quarry and a deer which dropped dead after desperately trying to escape over an 8ft wall. When the unfortunate animal becomes so depleted that it can run no more, hunt members move in to tackle it to the ground. On at least one occasion this merciless move has led to a deer being "accidentally choked" to death. Dragged along to the hunt cart and returned to the deer park, the deer used will await a future hunt outing when they will again have to endure this appalling abuse. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has always contended that this hunt is illegal and should never have been licensed under the Wildlife Act, because the deer hunted by the Ward Union are farmed deer, not wild animals, and therefore not subject to the Wildlife Act. This contention has been borne out in a legal opinion which concludes that the Ward Union hunt is "illegal" under the 1911 Protection of Animals Act, and that it shouldn't be licensed under the 1976 Wildlife Act -see Hunt is illegal, say eminent legal experts ACTION ALERT Express your disappointment to Minister Gormley at his decision to issue yet another licence to the Ward Union. Restate your opposition to cruel carted deer hunting and urge him to stop licensing this, and other, blood sports.
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Gormley: I am writing to express my huge disappointment at your decision to grant another licence to the Ward Union for carted deer hunting activities. The captive bred, domesticated deer used by the hunt are protected animals under the Protection of Animals Act and may not be legally hounded by hunters. As you are aware, it is contrary to existing legislation to licence the activities of this hunt. I urge you to honour your party's pre-election promise to ban blood sports and please revoke this licence which will lead to more deer suffering over the coming months. Thank you. I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, [*** Insert your name and location here ***] 10. Get active at a local level If you are in County Carlow or Kilkenny and would be interested in teaming up with like-minded individuals in the area to raise awareness about blood sports, please get in touch with us now. Simply email your name and contact details (phone number, email address) to info@banbloodsports.com and we will pass them on to others who respond. Proposed peaceful activities include collecting petition signatures, distributing leaflets and political lobbying. We also invite individuals from all areas of Ireland to get in touch with us if you are interested in becoming an active campaigner at a local level. Thank you. 11. New "No Hunting" Posters for Landowners Attention all landowners: please download, laminate and display our new "No Hunting" posters. Our posters come in A4 and A3 sizes and send a clear message to local hunters that your land is off-limits. Please tell your neighbours about the posters and encourage them to join you in displaying them. The latest posters available to freely download from the Farmers section of www.banbloodsports.com are:
Don't forget the other beagles
Regarding Anita Guidera's article (Irish Independent, November 1) on the killing of a beagle by an Irishman, is the Irish public not aware of how many beagles are killed annually in laboratories across Europe in the name of vivisection? Beagles are chosen for such testing, simply because they have docile personalities. In the UK, thousands of beagles are confined to cages, enduring extremely severe vivisection experiments, gassed, poisoned, burned and cut open without anaesthetic. The death of one particular beagle becomes a news story, but the mass killing of beagles for the testing of domestic household products is forgotten.
Cameron should learn USA lesson
David Cameron and his Conservatives would do well to learn the lesson from the USA. Taking delight in killing wildlife, as Republican vice-president candidate Sarah Palin does there and the bloodsports fraternity do here, rightly wins little support among the general electorate. Real change means putting compassion into our countryside, not pandering to every whim of the hunting lobby who for all their noise and wealth are few in number and callous in outlook. 13. Help stop the illegal sale of dog meat in the Philippines (Source: HSI) Despite being banned in the Philippines since 1998, the illegal dog meat trade continues to flourish in certain regions, including Baguio City. Please ask the Mayor of Baguio City to crack down on restaurants and vendors in his city who sell illegal dog meat.
Mayor Bautista
Dear Mayor Bautista, I am writing to urge you to please act to bring to an end the illegal sale of dog meat in your city. The consumption of dog meat was banned in the Philippines in 1998, and the Anti-Rabies Act of 2007 led to stiff penalties for those involved in its trade. I understand that, despite this, many restaurants and vendors in Baguio City continue to sell this illegal product. Please enforce the existing law by cracking down on any restaurant or vendor selling dog meat. This would be greatly welcomed by the majority of Filipinos who strongly disapprove of the dog meat trade as well as by the many visitors to the Philippines who find the killing of dogs for meat to be entirely distasteful. Thank you. Yours sincerely, [Name/Country] 14. Parliamentary Questions and Answers
Thanks to Tony Gregory, TD for tabling the following Dail Questions.
Question 232 - Answered on 6th November, 2008 Tony Gregory: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of hares killed or which subsequently died at coursing meetings (details supplied) during October and November 2008; and if this represents an increase on the average at these meetings. Written reply. Ref No: 39080/08 Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Gormley): Hare coursing in the State is administered by the Irish Coursing Club, set up under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958. Statutory responsibility for the Act is a matter for the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. My responsibilities under the Wildlife Acts relate to the conservation of populations of certain protected species including hares. My Department recently issued a licence under the Wildlife Acts to the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) allowing its affiliated clubs to net hares for the purpose of hare coursing for the 2008/2009 season, subject to certain conditions. One of these conditions is that the ICC must report on each hare coursing meeting held. In relation to the 19 hare coursing meetings referred to in the question, my Department has received reports on 14 of these meetings to date. The reports for the meetings scheduled to take place on 1 and 2 November 2008 have not yet been received. The number of hares killed or which subsequently died at the meetings reported upon was 22 compared to 27 and at the equivalent meetings held last year. Question 73 - Answered on 15th October, 2008 Tony Gregory: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the conservation status of the Irish hare is listed as poor or bad in the context of the EU Habitats Directive following a ruling of the European Court of Justice in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. Written reply. Ref No: 35185/08 Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Gormley): The Irish Hare is listed in Annex V of the Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC). Under Article 17 of the Directive member states are obliged to report to the European Commission on the status of listed habitats and species every six years. In December 2007, Ireland submitted the first baseline assessments of conservation status for all 59 habitats and some100 species that occur in Ireland. Each species was assessed according to its range across Ireland, the population, the quality of its habitat and its future prospects. The reporting template requires the results of the assessment to be expressed as good, inadequate or bad status. The range and future prospects of the Hare were considered favourable. As the extent of population fluctuation between years is not yet understood, it was not possible to identify a specific favorable reference value for population, resulting in an “unknown” response to this assessment category. The habitat was assessed as inadequate because there had been some loss due to urbanisation and agricultural intensification. Although only one assessment category reported an inadequate result the rules of the reporting methodology require that the overall summary position must then be described as inadequate. I understand that the ruling of the European Court of Justice in 2007 concerned species in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive and therefore does not relate to the Irish Hare. 15. Hasbro asked to scrap Monopoly matador
View the campaign video at:
Toy makers, Hasbro, have been asked to scrap a matador piece from a new edition of their Monopoly game. The character appears in the new "Here and Now: The World Edition" Monopoly game as a representation of Spain. In our correspondence to Hasbro, ICABS expressed our disbelief that "Hasbro has deemed it appropriate to include a symbol of one of the world's worst examples of violence against animals in a family game". ACTION ALERT Please send an email to Hasbro with "Please replace the Monopoly matador" in the subject line.
Patricia J. Riso
Email: priso@hasbro.com
16. Animal Voice - The 2008 Annual Edition
The 2008 Annual Edition of Animal Voice is here! 44 pages packed with campaign news, successes and action alerts. Download your copy now and email to all your friends.
If you enjoy reading Animal Voice, please consider becoming a supporter of ICABS. Your support will help fund future editions of the newsletter and ensure that our campaign against blood sports continues. To become a supporter, please click on "Shop" at www.banbloodsports.com Thank you. If you would like to receive a hard copy of the newsletter, please email us now. If you run an animal welfare group or organise information stands, we will be happy to provide you with copies of the newsletter. Contact us now! 17. Please become a supporter of ICABS The Irish Council Against Blood Sports relies entirely on your generosity to continue our campaigning for an end to blood sport cruelty. Please become a supporter of ICABS today. Annual rates are just 15 Euro (Individual), 20 Euro (Family) and 8 Euro (Unwaged). Download a subscription form 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 "Shop" button. Thank you. Educate others about the cruelty of blood sports! Please download ICABS videos, copy them to your portable media player and show them to as many people as possible. Encourage your friends to become active in the campaign against blood sport cruelty and subscribe to Animal Voice by emailing "Subscribe" to info@banbloodsports.com. Why not arrange a meeting with your local TDs and show them the terrible reality of blood sports. Ask them to support legislation outlawing foxhunting, carted deer hunting, hare coursing, mink hunting and other blood sports. To download the videos, please click on "Videos" at www.banbloodsports.com, choose the video you wish to download and click on the Download link. Thank you. 19. Preservation Notice - Sample Make it known publicly that your land is off-limits to hunters. Place a preservation notice in your local newspaper now. Below is a sample preservation notice which you may wish to use. "Take notice that all my lands at [Insert address(es) of land] are private and preserved day and night. All forms of hunting and shooting are strictly prohibited. Trespassers will be prosecuted. Signed [Insert name of landowner]" Note: Regardless of whether or not you publish a preservation notice, hunters have no right to enter privately-owned lands without permission. It is unacceptable for them to claim that they didn't know that your lands are private and preserved. However, many landowners choose to publish a preservation notice to make it abundantly clear to hunters that they are not allowed to enter the land. For more information about how you can keep hunters out, please click on "Farmers" at www.banbloodsports.com Farmers affected by hunt trespass may also wish to contact the Farmers Against Foxhunting and Trespass organisation which offers advice to landowners. Chairman, Philip Lynch, can be reached at 056-7725309. Visit the FAFT website at: www.myspace.com/farmersagainstfoxhunting 20. Add us as a friend on Bebo, MySpace, Youtube Help highlight our campaign against blood sports. Please add us as a top friend on your MySpace, Bebo or Youtube page and repost our regular bulletins. The addresses are www.myspace.com/banbloodsports and www.bebo.com/banbloodsports and www.youtube.com/icabs You can also catch up with all the latest campaign news at www.banbloodsports.com. Thank you. 21. Ongoing action alert - Demand ban on foxhunting Foxhunting is one of Ireland's most cruel and inhumane activities. Foxes are chased to exhaustion and ripped apart by packs of hounds. If they manage to find refuge underground during a hunt, terriers are sent after them to viciously drag them back out into the open. If a domestic animal was abused the same way that foxes are abused by foxhunts, it would be a criminal offence. Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Irish people want foxhunting made illegal. Please make your voice heard. Call on Agriculture Minister, Brendan Smith, to ensure that foxhunting is banned under the new Animal Health and Welfare Bill.
SAMPLE LETTER 1
Minister Brendan Smith
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
Dear Minister Smith, I am one of the majority of Irish people who want foxhunting banned. Please ensure that the Animal Health and Welfare Bill prohibits the chasing of foxes with packs of hounds and the associated foxhunting cruelty of terrierwork, digging out and earthstopping. Foxhunting is an abhorrent assault on our wildlife heritage and a complete ban is long overdue. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location]
SAMPLE LETTER 2
Minister John Gormley
Dear Minister Gormley, I am writing to appeal to you to amend the Wildlife Act so that foxes are protected from the terrible cruelty of foxhunting. Foxhunting is one of Ireland's worst blood sports; it is totally unacceptable that our wildlife legislation is failing to save foxes from the horrific injuries and deaths they suffer during hunts. Thank you. I look forward to your positive reply. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] Appeal to all Irish politicians Please join us in telling the Irish Government that it is now time to replace foxhunting with the humane alternative - drag hunting. Drag hunting sees the hounds chasing a scent which is artificially laid across the countryside. 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. Write to your TD at: Dáil Éireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 337 889. Write to your Senator at: Seanad Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 732 623. For the names and contact details of politicians, please visit www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/. 22. Ongoing action alert - Urge Minister Gormley to stop licensing deerhunt Please join our appeal to Minister John Gormley (Green Party) to stop licensing the Ward Union carted deer hunt - a cruel "sport" which causes horrific suffering to defenceless red deer. According to official monitoring reports obtained by ICABS under the Freedom of Information Act, the victims include deer dying of aneurisms, a deer drowned in a quarry, a deer that died after sustaining fractured ribs, a deer hanging by its front leg on barbed wire and a deer that dropped dead after trying to escape over an 8ft wall.
SAMPLE LETTER
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
Dear Minister Gormley, I am writing to urge you to stop licensing the Ward Union hunt for carted deer hunting activities. The captive bred, domesticated deer used by the hunt are protected animals under the Protection of Animals Act and may not be legally hounded by hunters. It is contrary to existing legislation to licence the activities of this hunt. I implore you, as a Green Party Minister, to stop licensing this hunt. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 23. Ongoing action alert - Ask Minister Gormley to ban mink hunting The status of the otter species is "poor" according to the "Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland" report published by the Department of the Environment in May 2008. According to a National Parks and Wildlife Service survey in 2006, otters have declined by 18 per cent in the past 25 years and numbers are continuing to fall. It is clear that urgent action must be taken to help halt the decline in the otter population. It is imperative that this includes a ban on mink hunting, a blood sport which is not only cruel to mink but also results in huge disturbances to the otters which inhabit the same stretches of rivers. Thanks to years of lobbying by ICABS and an EU Directive, otter hunting is now illegal in Ireland. However, to circumvent the ban, otter hunters simply started hunting mink instead. We have always maintained that since mink and otters inhabit the same stretches of river, any form of hunting will significantly disturb the now protected otter. Please contact Minister John Gormley and ask him to urgently bring mink hunting to an end as a way to help halt the decline in otter numbers.
SAMPLE LETTER
Minister John Gormley
Dear Minister Gormley, I was dismayed to learn from the recently published "Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland" report that the conservation status of the otter is "poor". A survey carried out by the NPWS division of your department has previously found that otters have declined by 18 per cent and are continuing to decline. I urge you to ensure that this precious species is given every possible protection. This protection must include a ban on mink hunting. With otters and mink inhabiting the same stretches of river, mink hunting is a significant threat to the otter species and its habitat. The disturbance caused by hunters on riverbanks and in the water can be clearly seen in an Irish Council Against Blood Sports presentation at www.youtube.com/icabs As someone who opposes the cruelty of mink hunting and wants the otter's future safeguarded, I urge you, Minister, to bring mink hunting to an end in Ireland. Thank you. I look forward to your positive response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 24. Ongoing action alert - Demand end to cruel badger snaring Tens of thousands of badgers (a "protected" species in Ireland) have been cruelly snared and killed by the Department of Agriculture to-date. The assault on the badger species is part of their so-called TB Eradication Scheme, a failed and discredited operation that has been described as "slaughter masquerading as science".
Please appeal to Agriculture Minister, Brendan Smith, to show compassion and suspend the cruel badger snaring operation. Remind the Minister that the badger is a protected species in Ireland and that the Protection of Animals Act, for which he is responsible, makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal. Tell him that a recent report stated that "badger culling apparently has the capacity to increase badger-to-badger transmission of infection, potentially undermining anticipated reductions in badger-to-cattle transmission."
SAMPLE LETTER
Minister Brendan Smith
Please write to the Minister for the Environment and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Remind them that the Wildlife Act, for which they are responsible, lists the badger as a protected species. Demand that they stop licensing the snaring and killing of thousands of badgers as part of a cruel and discredited TB eradication scheme.
Minister John Gormley
* Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe
Dear Sirs, I wish to register my outrage that tens of thousands of badgers have been cruelly snared and killed by the Department of Agriculture in recent years. There is absolutely no justification for using these cruel snares which cause terrible stress and suffering to badgers. When caught, the badgers struggle frantically throughout the night to escape before being shot to death by a Department of Agriculture employee. This failed approach to eradicating bovine TB has been described as "slaughter masquerading as science" and it's not difficult to understand why. Tackling the disease should focus fully on developing a bovine TB vaccine (as is being done in the UK) and not using defenceless badgers as scapegoats. The badger is a protected species under the Wildlife Act and should be given the protection it is entitled to. Thank you. I look forward to your positive response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] 25. ICABS Campaign Text Alerts Sign up for the Irish Council Against Blood Sports' Campaign Text Alerts service and receive occasional campaign updates to your mobile phone. To subscribe to this free service, simply text the word GO to our textline on 086-0386617. If, after subscribing, you wish to unsubscribe at any stage, simply text the word STOP to the same number. Your number will not be passed on to anyone else. Please become a supporter of ICABS The Irish Council Against Blood Sports relies entirely on your generosity to continue our campaigning for an end to blood sport cruelty. Please become a supporter of ICABS today. Annual rates are just 15 Euro (Individual), 20 Euro (Family) and 8 Euro (Unwaged). Download a subscription form 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 "Shop" button. Thank you. Fund an ICABS campaign postcard Campaign postcards are an important part of our campaign to highlight cruelty and call for change. Please consider funding an ICABS postcard. The printing costs for a postcard are approximately 150 Euro. ICABS postcards are made available on demand to individuals and animal welfare groups. If you are interested in funding a postcard, please contact us for further details. Thank you. 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 clicking on "Videos" at www.banbloodsports.com Please ask your local TD/Senator to view our videos and back a blood sports ban. Animal Voice - subscribe/unsubscribe 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. If you wish to be removed from this emailing list, simply reply with "Animal Voice - Unsubscribe" in the subject line. We respect your privacy and will never pass your email address on to anyone else unless we have your permission. Thank you for your continued support.
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