In This Issue:
01. Minister Gormley: Stop licensing hare coursing
02. Greek Greens appeal to Irish Green Party
03. Trevor Sargent told stress will still threaten hares
04. Swiss support for campaign
05. “We will continue Tony’s work against coursing”
06. Please sign petitions for the Irish Hare
07. Bad Hare Days: inspiring book for campaigners
08. Green MEP to contact Gormley
09. Irish Hare Initiative calls for refusal of coursing licence
10. 100pc support from hare trust
11. Ferris in pledge to get hare coursing motion overturned
12. RTE defends boiling water rabbit joke
13. Irish Hares in Youtube video
14. Mutilated coursing dogs found dumped on beach
15. Buy & Sell asked to stop listing coursing dogs
16. Urgent action needed to save hares: League
17. Reminder to Greens
18. Purchase the new ICABS car sticker
19. Coursing clubs are struggling: Sporting Press
20. ICABS Online
21. Protest calling on John Gormley to stop licensing coursing
22. TV chef pleads guilty to hare coursing charge
01. Minister Gormley: Stop licensing hare coursing
Help hares! Please join our urgent appeal to Environment Minister, John Gormley, to refuse a further licence to the Irish Coursing Club.
The licence - granted by the Green Party leader for the past two years - permits coursing clubs to snatch in the region of 7,000 hares from the wild.
The hares are used as live lures for greyhounds at coursing meetings around the country during the coursing season which normally begins at the beginning of October.
Every season, hares continue to be injured and killed by greyhounds at coursing meetings and last year was no exception, as reports obtained by ICABS under Freedom of Information showed.
For example, at Enniscorthy - 7 hares were mauled by dogs, with six dying of their injuries; Ballyheighue, Co. Kerry - 6 hares hit and 4 killed; Gorey - 11 hares hit, 7 injured and 5 put down because of injuries; Doon - 11 hares hit, 4 died from injuries. And so the catalogue of cruelty continues, year on year, as we approach 2010 in a so-called civilised country!
Not only that, but hare numbers are in decline in the wild, and Minister Gormley is well aware of this problem. Only last year, he himself issued a report on the Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland, which rated the conservation status of the Irish hare as 'POOR', with reasons given as loss of habitat, increased urbanisation and hunting.
This decline continues, as a recent survey published in Northern Ireland shows, and in response to that decline, all hare hunting across the border has been suspended for the last five years, while down south our Green Minister turns a blind eye to the problem, and allows our precious hare population to be recklessly exploited by the coursers and other assorted hare hunters.
It's time for Minister John Gormley to live up to his Green credentials and move to give the hare the protection it so desperately needs.
He should stand up to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and his pro-coursing Fianna Fail buddies and call time on this barbarism.
ACTION ALERT
Please ask Minister Gormley to stop licensing hare coursing. Email "STOP LICENSING CRUEL HARE COURSING" to minister@environ.ie with a copy to info@greenparty.ie. Tel: 01-8882403. Fax: 01-8788640. Alternatively, send the sample letter below to Minister John Gormley, Dept of the Environment, Custom House, Dublin 1, Ireland.
Dear Minister Gormley: I am one of the majority opposed to the cruel blood sport of hare coursing.
I am appalled that as leader of the Green Party, you have issued licences for this animal cruelty in recent years. As you are aware, hares suffer from the moment they are snatched from the wild in nets, during their time in captivity and while they are being chased by the greyhounds. When hit, they suffer agonising life-threatening injuries, including broken bones.
How can you possibly justify keeping this blood sport alive by licensing it? I strongly urge you to REFUSE a licence to the coursers for the 2009-10 season and to put in place permanent protection for this most timid and treasured of species. It is contrary to Green Party principles to facilitate animal cruelty.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name and location]
02. Greek Greens appeal to Irish Green Party
The Animal Rights Group of the Green Party of Greece - Ecogreens - has made a direct appeal to the Irish Green Party leader to stop issuing licences for one of the world's worst blood sports.
In a message to Minister John Gormley, Dr Olga Kikou of the Greek Greens said: "We express our deep concern over your decision to support the cruel sport of hare coursing".
"Our opposition to this unacceptable form of entertainment reflects the opinions of our members and the Greek public at large," Dr Kikou added. "There cannot be any place for this "sport" in the 21st century."
"To our great surprise, we were recently informed of your issuing licences which give official permission for the continuation of this form of animal cruelty," Dr Kikou added. "We strongly urge you to refuse to licence coursers for the 2009-2010 season. This act will protect hares from blood thirsty individuals and will promote the protection of these animals. In addition, it will enhance the image of the Green Party of Ireland within your country and abroad."
Minister Gormley was reminded by the Ecogreen representative that "the eradication of violence throughout the world is one of the basic principles of the Green Party and we, as members, need to give our full support to the values of non-violence to human and non human animals."
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has thanked Dr Olga Kikou and the Greek Greens for their solidarity.
We have highlighted this international support to Minister Gormley and other Irish Green Party representatives and urged them to do whatever it takes to ensure that no further licences are given to those involved in this disgusting blood sport.
03. Trevor Sargent told stress will still threaten hares
Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and former leader of the Green Party, Trevor Sargent, has been told that hares are still at risk of suffering and dying during coursing activities.
In December 2004, Trevor urged the then Environment Minister to end licences for coursing and save hares from the threat of capture myopathy (also known as shock disease).
In a Dail Question, Deputy Sargent asked Minister Roche if “he will consider the threat of myopathy for the hare species, which is a stress induced condition; and if he will end licences for hare coursing to minimise the threat.”
Hares are at risk of succumbing to stress-related illnesses while being captured in nets for coursing, while being manhandled in captivity and during the coursing meetings.
ICABS has asked Trevor Sargent if he will repeat his question to the current Environment Minister, John Gormley - also the current leader of the Green Party.
04. Swiss support for campaign
Green parties the world over are fundamentally opposed to activities involving animal cruelty.
Among the Green groups who have expressed support for our campaign against coursing is the Green Party in Switzerland.
A spokesperson is on record as saying that the party “fully support your position" and they asked us to convey to Minister John Gormley their desire to see blood sports licences refused here. ICABS is grateful to the Swiss Greens for this support.
05. “We will continue Tony’s work against coursing”
Noel Gregory - the brother of the late Tony Gregory, TD - and Dublin Central TD, Maureen O’Sullivan have vowed to continue the anti-coursing campaigning of the legendary politician who sadly passed away in January.
Speaking at an anti-coursing protest in August outside the offices of Environment Minister John Gormley (who has licensed the blood sport for the past two years), Ms O’Sullivan expressed her determination to fight for a ban.
“Coursing is absolutely vicious, I couldn’t look at the video footage of coursing,” she told the Irish Times. “How people call that a sport, I do not know.”
She said that one of the major regrets of Tony Gregory was that more hadn’t been done for animal rights in his lifetime. She said she had always shared his views on animal rights and hoped to continue his work against coursing.
ICABS is delighted and honoured to have the support of Noel Gregory and Maureen O’Sullivan.
06. Please sign petitions for the Irish Hare
Please show your support for protection for the Irish Hare from hare coursing cruelty. Sign the ICABS “Ban Blood Sports in Ireland” petition now at www.tinyurl.com/bbspetition
Please also add your name to a petition calling on the Environment Minister in Northern Ireland to give permanent protection to the hare.
The petition states: “Numbers of hares have fallen to dangerously low levels. This vulnerable species now exists as a fragmented population and is now locally extinct in many areas. Irish hares breed throughout the year and any activity including hunting, beagling and coursing poses a real threat to local populations and the future of the species as a whole.”
Please sign this important petition now at www.tinyurl.com/hareprotection
07. Bad Hare Days: inspiring book for campaigners
John Fitzgerald is a freelance journalist living in Kilkenny. He is an avid campaigner against blood sports and is well known in Ireland for his stance on hare coursing
This memoir opens with the 14-year -old Fitzgerald walking through the “church field”, enjoying a break from his studies, when he hears loud voices in the distance.
Curious to find out what is happening, he walks in the direction of the voices and sees a group of men and boys combing the church field…“like I’d seen on television when they are searching for a missing person”. When he gets closer, he feels unnerved by the expressions on their faces.
Fitzgerald takes refuge in an abandoned church in the field and looks through a fuchsia bush that covers the opening. Hysterical voices echo around the old church as he watches the leader of the group holding aloft a badly injured hare.
The leader passes the trembling hare to a boy, around the same age as Fitzgerald, and tells him to “stiff” it. When the boy fails to kill the hare the leader snatches it from him and proceeds to batter the hare against the church wall “in a mounting frenzy of excitement until another man taps him on the shoulder and tells him it’s dead now, you’re okay.”
When the group, led by their alcohol-swigging leader, walk off with the dead hare, Fitzgerald examines the scene and sees the hare’s blood splashed on the church wall and on blades of grass.
As he walks home, shaken by what he experienced, Fitzgerald meets an old man and tells him what he witnessed. The old man advises him: “You’ll say nothing, not a word. You’ll only get yourself into trouble.”
When he leaves school and starts work, still haunted by the memories of what he witnessed, Fitzgerald starts to write letters to the national papers, highlighting the cruelty of coursing.
One day the parish priest, Fr. Aloysius, visits Fitzgerald in his place of work and asks him to stop writing letters. He tells Fitzgerald his letters have caused great distress to Fr Carrigan, who had been a curate in the parish for many years. Fr Carrigan, Fitzgerald reminds the reader, used the pulpit at Sunday mass to appeal for volunteers to help in the netting of hares: “He would follow the final blessing with a favourable reference to hare coursing or a rallying call.”
One would be forgiven for thinking Fr Aloysius’ visit was a kind of warm up act because within an hour, a man smelling of whiskey enters Fitzgerald’s place of work. He verbally abuses Fitzgerald and then physically attacks him for writing the letters.
This does not deter Fitzgerald. If anything, it makes him more determined: he goes on local and national radio highlighting coursing as a barbaric form of entertainment.
Early one morning there is a loud knock on Fitzgerald’s front door: “Standing on the footpath outside the door were five tall men in suits. They looked like men dressed up for a wedding.”
The leader of the men introduces himself as Detective Sergeant Michael McEvoy of the Garda Special Branch: “We’re here to search this kip”, he said, as he pushed his way into the house. The Special Branch men raided the house and when they found a leaflet from the Animal liberation Front, McEvoy chortled “Hip hip! We’ve nailed him!”
Fitzgerald gives a graphic account of his arrest and interrogation. McEvoy and Garda Collier sit behind a desk in the barren investigation room and Fitzgerald is ordered to sit on a high stool. From time to time, McEvoy circles around Fitzgerald using all kinds of threats to try and extract a confession from him.
One sees Fitzgerald in the same terrifying environment as the hare caught in the net in the church field. McEvoy tells Fitzgerald, as he is about to take his fingerprints, “I can break every one of your fingers if you don’t co-operate.”
McEvoy continues to circle Fitzgerald trying to get him to sign a false confession. When he refuses to sign the already prepared statement, McEvoy tells Fitzgerald he will have his very ill father brought down to the station and interrogated. It is this threat that breaks the strong willed Fitzgerald and he signs the false confession...
This is a splendidly crafted work. Fitzgerald’s writing skill captures the reader’s attention in the way he describes, in vivid imagery, each event as though it is happening as one reads.
Though the names in this memoir have been changed, I feel this does not detract from its authenticity.
It is to be hoped this book will inspire its readers to do what they can to have hare coursing outlawed in Ireland: a land of breathless beauty…and dark shadows of obscene cruelty to animals.
This review by Chris Morris is taken from John Fitzgerald’s website - www.myspace.com/banharecoursingireland
08. Green MEP to contact Gormley
The Green Party MEP for South East England, Dr Caroline Lucas, will contact Minister John Gormley about his licensing of hare coursing.
A spokesperson for Dr Lucas said “Caroline is very happy to write to Minister Gormley about this issue. Thank you for letting us know about this.”
A Vice President of the Royal SPCA, Caroline is widely respected as one of the European Parliament’s most active animal welfare campaigners.
She received the Michael Kay Award in 2006 for her outstanding contribution to European animal welfare. BBC Wildlife Magazine listed Caroline in their ‘Top 50 Conservationists’.
In 2007, she was voted Politician of the Year by Observer readers in their annual Ethical Awards and in 2008 was judged one of the Guardian’s top “eco-heroes”.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is grateful to Caroline Lucas for her support.
09. Irish Hare Initiative calls for refusal of coursing licence
Hare conservation group, the Irish Hare Initiative, has joined calls for Minister John Gormley to refuse a licence to the Irish Coursing Club.
In a statement, spokesperson Mike Rendle pointed to the "compelling conservation case for refusing licences to net hares for coursing".
The group has appealed for action in response to the news that the 2009 Northern Ireland hare survey [carried out by Quercus on behalf of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency] has recorded the lowest number of hares since 2004. Annual counts offer the most reliable indication of population change. In sample counts, just 98 hares were recorded in 2009 compared to 187 in 2008 and 247 in 2007.
Mr Rendle flagged the pattern of long-term population decline in the last 100 years. 'Recent surveys have added to the growing body of evidence that our hares are disappearing', he said. 'This is a wake up call for our politicians and government departments. The current review of the Northern Ireland Wildlife Order presents the opportunity to remove the Irish hare from the quarry list and help secure its survival for future generations."
“Statutory protection will underpin a wider conservation strategy as well as send a clear signal that we are serious about saving this beleaguered species from extinction,” he added.
“The situation demands urgency, not complacency. We must use every means at our disposal to preserve this unique animal and allowing the Irish hare to remain a quarry species is simply not an option.”
The Irish Hare Initiative is an independent NGO working to conserve Irish hares. Email info@irishhare.org Website www.irishhare.org
10. 100pc support from hare trust
Hares and rabbits have an important place in Ireland's biodiversity.
Learn all about these fascinating mammals in a fact sheet by Mike Rendle of the Irish Hare Initiative.
Featuring lots of interesting information, along with comparisons, photos and illustrations, the fact sheet can be viewed and downloaded from www.tinyurl.com/haresrabbits
11. Ferris in pledge to get hare coursing motion overturned
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has learned that Martin Ferris, TD has given the Irish Coursing Club a guarantee that he will get a Sinn Fein anti-coursing motion overturned.
The motion, calling for "a total ban on all blood sports, including hare coursing and fox hunting" was passed at Sinn Fein's 2009 Ard Fheis after delegates voted in its favour.
Mr Ferris's determination to thwart this democratic process was revealed in a recent edition of greyhound journal, the 'Sporting Press'.
An article outlined that D.J. Histon, the head of the ICC, announced at a provincial meeting that they had "recently met with Martin Ferris of Sinn Fein in relation to the motion to ban blood sports" and that "Mr. Ferris had given a guarantee that he would get the motion overturned at the next Ard Fheis."
The motion was presented by Ogra Sinn Fein at the party's Ard Fheis earlier this year. A separate motion claiming that coursing is not a blood sport was rejected.
ICABS is stunned by Martin Ferris's arrogance and apparent disregard for the views of the majority of Sinn Fein members who expressed their support for a coursing ban.
ICABS has made Deputy Ferris aware that coursing results in injury and/or death to hares at all stages - the violent capture from the wild in nets, the stress of being manhandled and transported in boxes, the unnatural confinement in coursing compounds and the maulings by greyhounds.
In a letter to the party's head office, we expressed our hope that the party and its members will reject any attempt to have the important anti-coursing motion rescinded.
12. RTE defends boiling water rabbit joke
RTE Television has defended a joke broadcast in July during its “The Den” children’s programming slot.
A young girl was filmed asking "what do you get if you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole?"
In an email to RTE, ICABS described the “joke” as distasteful and challenged its inclusion.
“We found the image of boiling water being poured down a rabbit hole to be an inappropriate one to present to children,” we stated. “With so much effort going into trying to inculcate a respect for animals across all age groups, it is regrettable that a joke whose premise is an illegal act of cruelty was broadcast.”
In reply, Colm O'Callaghan, Executive Producer, RTE Young Peoples' Programmes defended the item.
“I have looked again at the tape and, to my mind, the segment in question can in no way be construed as either advocating or even drawing attention to illegal acts of cruelty to animals. If it were, then it would never have been committed to tape in the first place,” he stated.
ICABS has restated our view to Mr O’Callaghan that the joke was unpleasant and inappropriate. We hope that in future The Den will refrain from including such material in its programmes.
13. Irish Hares in Youtube video
The Irish Hare video on the ICABS Youtube Channel has been viewed over 30,000 times.
Check it out for yourself at www.tinyurl.com/harevideo
14. Mutilated coursing dogs found dumped on beach
Three mutilated greyhounds, believed to have been coursing dogs, were found dumped at a popular bathing spot in Limerick in May.
The Limerick Leader has reported that the animals had their ears cut off so that the owners could not be identified.
This is just the latest act of appalling barbarity against Irish greyhounds.
The dogs were discovered by lifeguards who were drawn to the spot by the smell of rotting flesh.
John Considine, Limerick County Council administrative officer told the Leader that "the tide was out so we could see them in the mud.”
“There were three carcasses, “ he continued. “One is there for a while as it has been reduced to a skeleton but the other two are fairly recent."
Mr Considine said that whoever killed and dumped the coursing hounds knew what they were doing.
"The dogs have had their ears cut off [ID numbers are tattooed on the ear] which shows a deliberate attempt to avoid detection and identification. We're hoping to get a phone call from a member of the public that might recognise the dogs from the photos. One of the dogs in particular has distinctive markings," he said.
Ger Reidy, of the Loughill Community Development Association, described the treatment of the dogs as sickening behaviour.
"It's an awful low thing to do. It was heaven there this weekend, There were some of the biggest crowds that have been in Kilteery in a long time. We're very proud of it and everyone in the local community is absolutely shocked and disgusted. We are not going to let this go," Mr Reidy added.
ICABS appeals to anyone with information on this sickening crime to please contact the Gardai immediately.
15. Buy & Sell asked to stop listing coursing dogs
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has called on Buy & Sell newspaper to stop including coursing greyhounds in its listings.
“We urge you to stop accepting adverts for coursing dogs due to the horrendous injuries caused to Irish Hares during coursing,” we stated in a letter of appeal to the company.
Management was also asked to stop accepting adverts for Patterdale Terriers after a Sunday Times report in February 2009 found that Buy & Sell “is being used by blood sports enthusiasts to exchange dogs specially bred for use in badger baiting and dog fighting, according to animal-welfare organisations."
Stephen Philpott, CEO of the Ulster SPCA, told the Sunday Times that "our investigations have shown time after time that criminals involved in organised blood sports, such as badger baiting and even dog fighting, often contact each other through adverts which they place in the Buy & Sell."
Please join our appeal to Buy & Sell. Email “Stop listing dogs used in coursing and hunting” to info@buyandsell.ie or phone your message in to 00353 (0)1 608 0700
Watch our campaign video at: www.tinyurl.com/doglistings
16. Urgent action needed to save hares: League
The League Against Cruel Sports has called for urgent action to safeguard the future of the Irish Hare. The League renewed its appeal for protection for the species after new figures revealed a worrying decline in numbers.
A sample count carried out for the 2009 Irish Hare Survey observed only 98 Irish hares - a drop of almost 50 per cent on last year’s figures and the lowest recording since the Species Action Plan inception in 2002.
The League warned that “these new findings are a clear sign that this threatened endemic species needs greater protection measures before the population reaches a low from which it cannot recover.”
They are calling on politicians to afford the hare full permanent protection when reviewing the Northern Ireland’s Wildlife Order 1985.
A recent opinion poll carried out by Millward Brown Ulster on behalf of the League showed 71 per cent of people living in Northern Ireland want full protection granted to the Irish hare to safeguard it from being killed, hunted or coursed.
Northern Ireland Campaigner Mary Friel said: “The League is seriously concerned that the Irish hare population is at a critical tipping point. Politicians need to act now to ensure the survival of this indigenous species.”
Northern Ireland Campaigns Manager Louise Robertson added: “This drastic fall in hare numbers should be a wake-up call to politicians to use the review of the Wildlife (NI) Order 1985 to do what the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland want and give this species permanent protection.”
You can download the entire text of the 2009 Irish Hare Survey from the website of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.
The direct download link is www.tinyurl.com/kppk7a (pdf file)
17. Reminder to Greens
In a pre-election promise to the electorate in 2007, the Green Party said that if they succeeded in getting into government, they would "ban blood sports" and introduce "heavy penalties for organisers and participants".
With two Ministers and a Minister of State now in position, the Green Party is today firmly in government.
Please join us in reminding the Green Party about their pledge and urging them to honour the promise to bring hare coursing, carted deer hunting, fox hunting and mink hunting to an end in Ireland.
Please send a message to the six Green Party TDs and ask them to stand firm on their pledge to protect Irish animals from the terrible cruelty of blood sports.
John Gormley, Minister for the Environment. Tel: 01 888 2403. minister@environ.ie
Eamon Ryan, Minister of Communications. Tel: 01 618 3097. eamon.ryan@oireachtas .ie
Trevor Sargent, Minister of State at the Dept of Agriculture. Tel: 01 618 3465. tsargent@greenparty.ie
Ciaran Cuffe, TD. Tel: 01 618 3082. ciaran@ciarancuffe.com
Mary White, TD. Tel: 059 977 3184. marywhitetd@gmail.com
Paul Gogarty TD. Tel: 01 618 3022. pgogarty@oireachtas.ie
Please send a copy of your emails to the Green Party’s Head Office at info@greenparty.ie or telephone in your message to the party on 01 6790012
18. Purchase the new ICABS car sticker
Purchase the new ICABS car sticker at www.tinyurl.com/carsticker
19. Coursing clubs are struggling: Sporting Press
"If young people are not involved in coursing, coursing will not survive," the president of the Irish Coursing Club was told at a provincial meeting.
The Sporting Press has reported that ICC President Brian Divily responded by saying that a lot of clubs are in need of young people and some clubs are struggling.
The 18th June 2009 report also revealed that DJ Histon, Chief Executive of the Irish Coursing Club, "advised that for the first four months of the current year, greyhound litters are down 6%, namings are down 4%, matings are down 15% and transfer of ownerships are down 4%."
For the full year 2008 versus 2007, he told the meeting that matings were down 7%, litters were down 6%, namings were down 8% and transfers of ownership were down 2%. He said the trend is continuing downwards due to the present economic climate.
Mr Histon went on to outline that the Irish Coursing Club had recently met with Martin Ferris of Sinn Fein in relation to an anti-blood sports motion passed at the party's Ard Fheis.
Mr Histon said that Deputy Ferris had "given a guarantee" to the coursers that he would get the motion overturned at the next Ard Fheis!
20. ICABS Online
Keep up-to-date with the campaign against blood sports - visit www.banbloodsports.com for all the latest updates, news items and action alerts.
To watch our campaign videos, check out our Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/icabs
Please be sure to add us as one of your top friends at www.myspace.com/banbloodsports and www.bebo.com/banbloodsports.
For regular mini updates and action alerts, please follow us on Twitter. You can find our Twitter page at www.twitter.com/banbloodsports.
For leaflets, newsletters, posters, head over to www.scribd.com/banbloodsports
Help us highlight our websites. Click on Links at www.banbloodsports.com and choose a promo banner to display on your website.
21. Protest calling on John Gormley to stop licensing coursing
Thanks to everyone who supported the ARAN/ICABS protest in August. Join our ongoing appeal to Minister Gormley: Email “Stop Licensing Blood Sports” to minister@environ.ie
22. TV chef pleads guilty to hare coursing charge
TV chef Clarissa Dickson-Wright has pleaded guilty to a charge of being a spectator at a hare coursing event in England. The "Two Fat Ladies" presenter escaped punishment, however, at a hearing at Scarborough Magistrates Court on September 1st 2009.
The outcome follows a private prosecution by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
According to the London Times, "Dickson-Wright and leading race horse trainer Sir Mark Prescott joined hundreds of hunt supporters for two days of the traditional field sport held on farmland near Malton, North Yorkshire, in March 2007."
Coursing was outlawed under the Hunting Act 2004 but so-called greyhound field trials, involving muzzled greyhounds, continued in an attempt to avoid prosecution under the legislation.
The court heard that Dickson-Wright and Prescott were invited to the event by a Yorkshire Trialling Club, which organised the trials, and they had believed that what they were watching was lawful.
John Cooper, prosecuting for the IFAW, said that 46 trials had been held over two days, each involving dogs chasing hares.
“During the course of both these events the dogs were muzzled but that does not stop the damage and harm to the wildlife they chase and harry,” he said. “It in no way ameliorates the suffering that the hare would feel from the chase. It does not ameliorate the cruelty.”
District Judge Kristina Harrison gave both defendants an absolute discharge and awarded no costs against them, but warned that future offenders would be dealt with more seriously.
“If what’s happening [coursing with muzzled dogs] fits within the definition set down by Parliament within the Hunting Act, it’s hare coursing. It’s unlawful, people will be prosecuted and will be dealt with severely,” she added.
Professional hunt monitors employed by IFAW used covert equipment to film the illegal hare coursing in North Yorkshire.
Robbie Marsland, an IFAW Director, said: “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this case which sends out a clear and strong message that anyone who chooses to ignore the Hunting Act and engage in activities involving the cruel pursuit of animals for sport can and will be prosecuted.
“Ignorance of the Hunting Act will not be accepted as an excuse. We particularly welcome the judge’s comments that anyone in future found to be engaging in illegal hare coursing will be dealt with ‘most strenuously’.”
Read the full Times report at http://tinyurl.com/ku8nph. Visit the IFAW at www.ifaw.org
Animal Voice
Animal Voice is published by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports
Editorial Team: Philip Kiernan & Aideen Yourell. Layout and design: Philip Kiernan
Download more copies of Animal Voice by clicking on Newsletters at www.banbloodsports.com or at www.scribd.com/banbloodsports
Thanks to Andrew Kelly for the cover photo of an Irish Hare. View more of Andrew’s excellent photos at www.akellyphoto.com
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