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Animal Voice, Issue 9, September 2013
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In this month's edition:
01. Another season of coursing cruelty to begin this weekend
01. Another season of coursing cruelty to begin this weekend
Hares will again be running for their lives this weekend with the start of another hare coursing season. The cruelty continues with a licence from Minister Jimmy Deenihan who has disregarded the suffering, injury and death caused to hares in coursing.
This week on RTE Radio's Today Show with Sean O'Rourke, a pro-coursing report included the pitiful cry of a hare caught in a net set by coursers. This sound is being replicated thousands of times around the country as hares are violently removed from their habitats to be used as live lures for greyhounds.
Please join us as we continue to push for a ban on this deplorable bloodsport.
ACTION ALERT
Sign anti-coursing petitions:
Petition to Ban horrific Hare Coursing Cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Ask Minister Deenihan to respect the wishes of the majority who want hare coursing banned and to withdraw the coursing licence.
Jimmy Deenihan, TD
Email: jimmy.deenihan@oireachtas.ie
Constituency Details
In 2003, Enda Kenny told ICABS: "I am opposed to the practice of live hare coursing." Today, join us in urging him to intervene to stop another season of coursing.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Urge your local TDs to back a ban on cruel hare coursing:
Write to your TDs at:
02. Coursing cruelty complaint - No prosecution
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has described as "astounding" a decision by Gardai not to prosecute a coursing club which released hares back to the wild in conditions "ranging from very poor to almost dead".
Following a coursing meeting in Murrintown last December, a National Parks & Wildlife Ranger noted in his monitoring report that on release by the Wexford coursing club of the hares into the wild after the meet, at least 2 hares were "in poor condition", and that at another release site, at least 3 hares had "injuries so serious they couldn’t move and a fourth limped off". He further described the condition of the hares as "ranging from very poor to almost dead".
Meanwhile, a veterinary report accessed under Freedom of Information, stated that 9 hares were considered unfit for coursing, 7 hares were injured, 1 hare died and 17 hares were "sick or otherwise unfit after coursing".
ICABS was informed by the Wexford Gardai that there was "insufficient evidence" of a breach of animal welfare legislation, which we find absolutely astounding, given that the cruelty was clearly outlined in the Wildlife Ranger’s official’s report.
ICABS was also told that it would require a vet to state that the animals were in bad condition, yet the Gardai were also provided with a vet’s report (also accessed by ICABS under FOI) which stated that 17 hares were “sick or otherwise unfit” after the coursing meeting. Despite the fact that we reminded the Gardai of this vet’s statement, and called for the investigation to be re-opened, we have been informed that "the decision not to prosecute stands".
Aideen Yourell of ICABS said: "The statement by the ranger regarding the condition of these hares is clear and unequivocal, and is backed up by the vet’s report. We are at a loss to understand why the Gardai will not prosecute what we contend is a clear breach of the 1911 Protection of Animals Act, which states that it is an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal, and to neglect the suffering of an animal, which would certainly appear to be the situation in this case where these unfortunate animals were abandoned to the wild with 'injuries so serious they couldn’t move' and 'ranging from very poor to almost dead'."
Every year in Ireland, thousands of hares are violently netted from the wild and used as lures for greyhounds in coursing. These timid, delicate creatures suffer the fear and stress of running for their lives. Those hit by the muzzled greyhounds sustain painful and life-threatening injuries. See our 2013 coursing cruelty catalogue for a list of some of the victims from last season -
Murrintown, Co. Wexford - December 26/27, 2012
NPWS RANGER REPORT:
18 hares hit by dogs, 13 injured, 1 "declared killed". Ranger noted in a memo that at a release site, 2 hares were "in poor condition". He further noted that at another release site, 3 hares had "injuries so serious they couldn't move and a fourth limped off", adding: "So while only one hare was declared killed, I am recording at least another 6 were in conditions ranging from very poor to almost dead, therefore a minimum of 7 were in very poor condition."
VETERINARY REPORT:
The veterinary report stated that 9 hares were considered unfit for coursing. 7 hares were injured, 1 died and 17 "sick or otherwise unfit after coursing".
03. The pitiful cry of a hare caught in a coursing net
Hear the pitiful cry of one of the thousands of Irish Hares cruelly netted from the wild every year for coursing. The netted hare was heard as part of a pro-coursing report on the Today Show With Sean O'Rourke.
Listen to an extract from the show.
Reporter Brian O'Connell went out with the coursers to catch hares and recorded what he described as sounding "like a child crying".
"We started the night by walking around several fields and the lads had nets with them," he outlined in the report. "The nets were strung across two sticks. They [the coursers] knew the paths that the hares were likely to take in crossing from field to field."
O'Connell said that he and the coursers "set the nets at about half six and then we waited for about an hour for it to get dark."
"When it did get dark, the plan was to walk along the ditches and hopefully we would rouse a hare and then they'd run through one of the gaps where we had a net tied across," he continued. Disregarding the plight of hares caught in nets, he quipped that "if nothing else, it was great exercise - you were out for a couple of hours in the fresh air."
"I'd pretty much given up hope of catching one of them," he said later in the report. "We walked around for around half an hour and we'd split in to two groups...As we were walking along, I suddenly heard what sounded to me like a child crying - a very high piercing sound...we went quickly to check the nets nearby and as we got closer we could see and hear a hare in the net."
Brian O'Connell commented that he "wasn't there to make a judgement on coursing" but ICABS believes the report should at least have acknowledged the suffering caused to hares and the injuries and deaths recorded every coursing season. Instead, listeners were presented with a whitewashed image of coursing in which claims by the coursers went unchallenged.
We have lodged a complaint to RTE about the report's lack of balance and are calling for the opportunity to come on to the show to expose the reality of coursing.
Feedback comments read out on the show: "A lot of private hare catchers sell hares to trainers who have greyhounds in big finals and who want to blood them with a hare." "Sean how can you possibly refer to coursing as a sport? It is shameful animal cruelty which most people want banned." Today Show With Sean O'Rourke, 24 September 2013.
ACTION ALERT
Download an mp3 podcast of the show and send in your feedback.
Email: todaysor@rte.ie
04. Groups promoting blood sports "entitled to a tax exemption"
Fine Gael Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said that groups that promote hare and fox hunting are "entitled to a tax exemption". Responding to a Dail Question from ICABS President Maureen O'Sullivan, the Limerick TD outrageously claimed that the "ordinary meaning" of sport includes activities such as hunting and therefore hunts can benefit under Section 235 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
Section 235 deals with "bodies established for promotion of athletic or amateur games or sports". ICABS is calling for hunting groups to be rejected due to the fact that they do not fall into the categories of athletic, amateur game or sport. We are urging the Finance Minister and the Revenue Commissioners to recognise that terrorising and killing animals is not a "sport" or "game" and to reject applications for tax exemption from hunts.
As of 9th August 2013, the Revenue list of tax exempt groups contains eight hunts (as well as a number of animal shooting groups). The hunts are: Carbery Hunt, County Limerick Hunt, County Roscommon Hunt, Fingal Harrier Hunt, Laois Hunt, Shillelagh And District Hunt, Island Hunt and United Hunt.
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in urging the Revenue Commissioners to recognise that hunting is not a "sport" or "game" and to reject applications for tax exemption from hunts.
Revenue Commissioners
05. Cricket club urged to abandon coursing field
A Louth cricket club is being criticised for disregarding the suffering of hares and choosing a coursing field as its home ground. Dundalk Cricket Club has been told that its playing field is a killing field where unleashed greyhounds have fatally mauled hares.
According to a report in the Dundalk Democrat earlier this month, Dundalk & Dowdallshill hare coursing club has a "very good relationship" with Dundalk Cricket Club.
An interviewed hare courser is asked how cricket came to be played on the coursing field and he outlines that "Mickey Heeney was our secretary at the time and was working with Brian Morris, chairman of the cricket club, in the DkIT. They got talking and following an inspection of our facilities a deal was agreed."
"We have a very good relationship," he added. "We don’t use the ground during the summer months when cricket is played. They keep the place tidy, and mowing the grass strengthens it."
ICABS has told the Leinster Cricket Union-affiliated club about the cruelty of hare coursing and pointed out that at the Dundalk & Dowdallshill coursing field, hares have been hit and killed.
"We appeal to Dundalk Cricket Club to recognise the cruelty of hare coursing and the inappropriateness of choosing a coursing field as a home ground," we stated. "Please show compassion for the hares that are terrorised at this location and choose a different field for your sport."
ACTION ALERT
Join us in our appeal to Dundalk Cricket Club to disassociate from hare coursing and choose a different field.
Mr Derek Turner
Email: derek@spiritstore.ie
06. Dail Questions and Answers
Question 428 - Answered on 24th September 2013
Clare Daly, TD (Dublin North, United Left):
To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the authority upon which the Gardaí refused to prosecute a club (details supplied) in County Wexford on the basis of not accepting evidence submitted from a National Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger in relation to animal cruelty; and the steps that will be taken to ensure that the law is upheld.
Wexford and District Coursing Club, coursing meeting last December 2012
Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael):
I am informed by the Garda authorities that following a Garda investigation into the matter referred to by the Deputy, it was established that there was insufficient evidence to sustain a prosecution, and that all parties were informed of this decision.
Question 79 - Answered on 24th September 2013
Clare Daly, TD (Dublin North, United Left):
To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the evidence of a National Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger is sufficient in relation to a prosecution for animal cruelty; and the steps open to a person who makes a complaint where such evidence has not being taken into account.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael):
The National Parks and Wildlife Service officers do not come within the scope of my function. The Deputy will be aware that under the Protection of Animals Acts 1911 and 1965, responsibility for prosecutions rests with An Garda Síochána.
If the Deputy wishes to forward details of a specific case involving animal cruelty, my Department will be happy to examine the evidence and refer to An Garda Síochána as appropriate.
Question 61 - Answered on 19th September, 2013
Maureen O'Sullivan, TD (Dublin Central, Independent):
To ask the Minister for Finance the reason tax exemption continues to be granted to fox/hare hunting groups and shooting clubs; the way they are classified under Section 235 of the Taxes and Consolidation Act 1997 as bodies established for promotion of athletic or amateur games or sports; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael):
Section 235 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides an exemption from tax for sporting bodies. Two categories of sporting bodies are covered by the exemption:
- Bodies established, and existing for, the sole purpose of promoting an athletic game or an athletic sport, and
As the legislation does not define what is meant by the term “sport”, it has to be given its ordinary meaning. In that context, it has been regarded as including pastimes collectively undertaken for recreation purposes provided such activities are legal and considered by convention and custom to be sporting activities. These include field sports such as hunting, shooting and fishing.
In the circumstances, bodies engaged in the promotion of such activities are entitled to a tax exemption under the legislation provided they meet all the other relevant criteria.
07. Hare coursing cruelty highlighted on TV3's Morning Show
The cruelty of hare coursing has been highlighted on TV3's "The Morning Show". ICABS spokesperson Aideen Yourell told viewers about the stress, injuries and deaths caused by coursing and called for hares to be replaced with an artificial lure. After watching an online repeat of today's show, please join the campaign against this deplorable bloodsport.
Watch the show online now at:
A big thank you to TV3 and The Morning Show for this opportunity to remind viewers that despite bans in all our neighbouring jurisdictions, hare coursing shamefully continues in the Republic. Please help us secure a ban on hare coursing - click on "Campaigns" at www.banbloodsports for more information and action alerts.
08. ICABS Video: Coursing bans around the world
Watch our new campaign video which shows a history of coursing bans around the world http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcT6AoBS5wA
The cruel bloodsport of hare coursing has been banned in many nations around the world. The Republic of Ireland is one of the last countries to allow this shameful activity to continue.
Opinion polls have shown that a majority of Irish people want hare coursing banned - as it already is in our neighbouring jurisdictions of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland.
Every coursing season, nets are used to violently capture hares from the wild. The hares are thrown into boxes, brought to coursing fields, kept in captivity for weeks or months and eventually used as live lures for greyhounds.
Though the greyhounds are muzzled, hares suffer fear and stress and are severely injured and may be killed when hit by the dogs.
There is no justification for allowing this cruelty to continue - particularly when there is an alternative in the form of drag coursing in which the dogs chase an artificial lure.
09. Curragh hares being eaten by greyhounds: NPWS urged to investigate
ICABS has called on the NPWS to investigate the persecution of hares in the training of greyhounds.
On the Today Show with Sean O’Rourke on 19th September, Senator Marie Louise O’Donnell stated: "I saw a hare and [a man] said to
me 'that’s the first hare I’ve seen for years on the Curragh' because the greyhounds are eating the hares - in the training.”
The interview can be heard on the RTE Website
Please make a donation to ICABS
Please consider supporting our work with a donation.
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 today - click on the Paypal button at www.banbloodsports.com to make a donation or send a cheque made payable to ICABS to ICABS, PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland. Thank you very much.
10. Travel website replaces bullfight article with anti-bullfighting info
A big thank you to travel website, City Breaks 101, for deleting a bullfighting article from its website and replacing it with a video of an upset tourist crying after attending a bullfight.
Following an ICABS appeal, bullfighting information was removed from the webpage and in its place is now a notice alerting holidaymakers to the violence involved.
"Bullfighting, which involves torturing, terrorising and eventually killing bulls, should not be viewed as a sport," the notice states, alongside a link to an ICABS webpage where a video exposes the cruelty of bullfighting.
ICABS has thanked City Breaks 101 for its compassionate and helpful response. It joins a growing list of companies/websites which have removed references to bullfighting or bullrings. These include EasyJet, Marriott International, Hilton Hampton, Ebookers, Club Travel, Abbey Travel, Sunways, Low Cost Holidays.ie, Travel Department, Cancun Holidays Information Center, No Fly Cruising, Co-op Travel UK and Original Travel.
Visit the City Breaks 101 website at www.citybreaks101.co.uk
Help us to convince other companies to drop bullfighting from their websites. Check out our latest anti-bullfighting Action Alerts now at http://www.banbloodsports.com/ln130720.htm
11. Easy Jet removes bullring photo from website
Easy Jet Airlines has responded positively to an Irish Council Against Blood Sports appeal and removed an image of a bullring from its website. The move came after we highlighted the cruelty of Spanish bullfighting and the upset caused to many tourists who are lured in to watch bullfights.
"We hope Easy Jet will show compassion and replace the bullfighting image with an image of an activity which does not involve cruelty to animals," we stated. "This would be a big help to us in our campaign to discourage holidaymakers from visiting bullrings in Spain."
A big thank you to Easy Jet for its compassionate response.
Easy Jet is the UK's largest airline, flying over 60 millions passengers on more than 600 routes around the world. Spain is one of its most popular destinations with approximately 8.5 million flight seats available. Find out more at www.easyjet.com
12. Original Travel thanked for removing bullfight content
A big thank you to Original Travel for deleting bullfighting content from its website.
Following an ICABS appeal in which we highlighted the suffering of bulls, the London-based company said they were happy to remove references to bullfighting in Spain and France.
Find out more about Original Travel at www.originaltravel.co.uk
13. No Fly Cruising removes bullring reference
A big thank you to "No Fly Cruising" for removing a reference to a Seville bullring from its website. The move came after ICABS highlighted the cruelty of Spanish bullfighting.
"Bullfighting is not something that we encourage our cruise customers to see when visiting Spain," a company spokesperson stated.
Find out more about No Fly Cruising at www.noflycruising.com
14. Anti-bullfight protest outside Spanish Embassy
Thank you to everyone who attended the anti-bullfighting protest outside the Spanish Embassy in Dublin on 4th September.
The protest location was next to a busy junction and much passing traffic got to see our messages - "Spain - Stop the Suffering, Ban Bullfighting" and "Visiting Spain? Boycott the Bullfights". ICABS has writted to the Spanish Ambassador to convey Ireland's opposition to bullfighting.
See some photos from the day at http://www.flickr.com/photos/icabs/sets/72157635397673478/with/9681610982/
15. Victims of Ireland's cruel hare coursing
Every year in Ireland, thousands of hares are violently netted from the wild and used as lures for greyhounds in hare coursing. These timid, delicate creatures suffer the fear and stress of running for their lives. Those hit by the muzzled greyhounds sustain painful and life-threatening injuries. Our new campaign video highlights just some of the victims of this cruel activity.
Watch our new campaign video which highlights just some of the many victims
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9uNg-V3EmQ
16. ICABS on Facebook and Twitter
Keep up to date with the ICABS campaign against bloodsports. Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages at
www.facebook.com/banbloodsports
and www.twitter.com/banbloodsports
Thank you to everyone who has shared and re-tweeted our news and action alerts over the past month.
17. Man fined Eur2,500 for unlawfully shooting stag
Source: Irish Independent, 17 September 2013
An offer by a man who unlawfully shot a red deer stag to replace the animal has been deemed "unfeasible" because a replacement's DNA would not match the rest of the herd.
Richard Cullinane (37) of Lisnacon, Kanturk, Co Cork was given until November to donate Eur2,500 to the court poor box and to pay Eur750 in compensation to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for the loss of the deer, which is protected under Irish and EU law.
The married father of one pleaded guilty to hunting a wild animal without a licence and shooting a protected species at Loo Bridge, Glenflesk, Co Kerry on November 7, 2011 at a previous court sitting earlier this month.
The maximum penalty for the offence is a Eur650 (£500) fine and/or three months in prison.
His solicitor Padraig O'Connell said that although his offer to replace the animal wasn't feasible, it had shown good faith on his part.
Conservation officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Dr Tim Burkitt told the court that replacing the deer was impossible as a stag from any other part of the country would not have the same DNA as a deer from Kerry.
Dr Burkitt said that although there was currently a "reasonable number" of native red deer in Killarney National Park, part of the reason they were fully protected under the Wildlife Act was because their numbers in general were not high.
Dr Burkitt had received a call in November 2011 reporting the hind legs of a deer had been dumped in a field near Loo Bridge in Glenflesk.
Further investigations revealed the head of a deer had been left in with a local taxidermist to be mounted.
DNA testing carried out on both sets of remains proved they were from the same animal.
Dr Burkitt said Mr Cullinane immediately admitted the offences when approached and apologised for them.
Mr O'Connell said his client was a family man of good character who had never been in trouble with the law before and had no previous convictions.
"I don't expect we'll see him inside a court again," the solicitor added.
Judge James O'Connor adjourned sentencing until November 19 by which time Mr Cullinane has to have paid the amount due in full.
Judge O'Connor also stipulated the Eur750 payment to the Department should be applied to Killarney National Park, as it has incurred the loss.
18. Irishman charged over black rhino horns
Source: Irish Independent, 19 September 2013
An Irishman used forged documents to sell horns from endangered black rhinos to a New York collector for more than 30,000 euro.
Michael Slattery was arrested on Saturday at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport while boarding a flight to London.
A judge ordered Slattery to be held without bail during an appearance on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn.
A criminal complaint alleges that in 2010 Slattery travelled from London to Houston to try to buy two horns at a taxidermy auction house. Learning that he needed to be a resident of Texas to make the purchase, he recruited a day labourer to be a straw buyer, the complaint says.
Slattery - identified by US prosecutors as a member of Ireland's Gypsy minority, known travellers - and unidentified suspects gave the straw buyer the money to complete the deal, the complaint says.
Later that year, Slattery met with a Chinese buyer in Queens and sold four horns using endangered-species bills of sale with fake Fish and Wildlife Service logos on them, the complaint says. It's unclear where he got the additional two horns, it says.
Three of the five species of rhinoceros in Africa and South Asia have been hunted to the verge of extinction because their horns command exceptionally high prices for use in traditional Asian medicine chiefly in China and Vietnam, where the powdered horn is marketed as an aphrodisiac and even as a cure for cancer. The horns are made of keratin, a fibrous protein that is the building block for skin and hair, and has no documented medicinal value.
In 2011, Europol issued a warning that an Irish Gypsy criminal network based in the County Limerick village of Rathkeale was responsible for dozens of thefts of rhino horns across Europe.
Europol said the thieves, called the Rathkeale Rovers, had already targeted museums, galleries, zoos, auction houses, antique dealers and private collections in Britain, continental Europe, the United States and South America.
Earlier this year, masked men stole stuffed rhinoceros heads containing eight valuable horns from the warehouse of Ireland's National Museum in a robbery being linked to the travellers.
19. Renewed appeal: Urge Ticketmaster to stop selling bullfight tickets
International ticket selling company, Ticketmaster, has been urged to stop selling bullfighting tickets on its website. In an appeal, ICABS asked the company to show compassion and stop profiting from an activity which involves the torture and killing of animals.
"Ticketmaster's sale of bullfight tickets is helping to keep the blood-drenched bullrings in business," we stated. "This is one of the world's worst acts of cruelty to animals and one which millions across the world want made illegal."
On its Spanish website, Ticketmaster is offering tickets for bullfighting events in several locations, including Madrid, Valencia, Almeria, Bilbao, Marbella, Malaga, etc
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in telling Ticketmaster to stop selling animal cruelty tickets.
Jared Smith
Email from: http://ticketmasterus.custhelp.com/app/askNoTabs
"The [NARGC] Association is also a Seanad Nominating Body and is included in the Agricultural Panel on the Register of Seanad Nominating Bodies." From the website of animal shooting organisation, NARGC.
The writing really does seem to be on the wall for this tradition; fewer than 500 bullfights will be held this year, compared to 2,700 in 2007...Given that the economy is expected to endure a painfully slow recovery according to the most optimistic forecasts, a bullfighting fight-back looks unlikely if not impossible...at some point, this centuries-old tradition is going to be put out of its misery. Coast Rider News, 08 Jul 2013
A gigantic wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park was caused by an illegal fire set by a hunter, the U.S. Forest Service said Thursday...The Rim Fire has burned nearly 371 square miles – one of the largest wildfires in California history and has cost $81 million to fight...California's largest fire on record, a 2003 blaze in the Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego, was sparked by a novice deer hunter who became lost and set a signal fire in hope of being rescued. Sergio Martinez was sentenced to six months in a work-furlough program, 960 hours of community service and five years of probation in 2005. The so-called Cedar Fire burned nearly 430 square miles, caused 15 deaths and destroyed more than 2,200 homes. Watch TV News report at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7HddUMoOXA
from Yosemite Wildfire Started By Hunter's Illegal Fire, U.S. Forest Service Announces, Huffington Post, September 5th 2013.
"I have no respect for a man who enjoys foxes being torn to bits by hounds, hare coursing or badger culls." from a tweet to David Cameron by artist Jean Haines, 24 September 2013.
There are conflicting reports about the death of a dog in Kill last weekend, with locals concerned that it may have been killed deliberately. Local group, the Kill Harriers, who went to check on the animal, says it appears to have been knocked down. Cub hunting started last Sunday in the Kill area as a prelude to the hunting season in November. On Monday, a hound was found in the area by members of the local community who fed it, while calls were made to contract the owner so that the dog can be collected. Martin Curran, Chairman of the Kill Harriers, told the Waterford News & Star that their group has been hunting in Kill on Sunday. Their huntsman went out to Kill on Monday night after he was informed that there was a dog in the area. from Dead dog causes concern in Kill, Waterford News & Star, 27th August 2013.
"The effects of hare coursing on wild hare populations are not known." From the National Parks and Wildlife Service's Wicklow Mountains National Park website. The NPWS grant an annual licence to the Irish Coursing Club which allows thousands of hares to be removed from the wild and used as live lures for hare coursing. Ask the NPWS to revoke the 2013-14 hare coursing licence they issued which will result in thousands of hares running for their lives over the coming months. Email: natureconservation@environ.ie Tel: +353-1-888 3242 LoCall 1890 20 20 21
"Bullfighting is so cruel. I can think of nothing worse than inflicting terrible pain, fear and suffering on a beautiful animal for the sake of amusement." Ricky Gervais, August 2013.
"Jimmy Deenihan TD previously expressed his disappointment that heritage is in his portfolio. He's a disaster for conservation." From a tweet by the Irish Wildlife Trust @Irishwildlife 12th September 2013
Harvey Nichols have decided to sell real fur again. Please express your disgust and let them know that there is no place for real animal fur in Dublin!! Contact information: Dublin Store Dundrum Town Centre, Sandyford Road, Dublin 16, Tel + 353 (0) 1 291 0488,
Fax + 353 (0) 1 291 0489 Email Contact.dublin@harveynichols.com From the Boycott Dublin's fur shops Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boycott-Dublins-fur-shops/306210702767412?ref=stream
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland Now
Ask An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to Ban Hare Coursing
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
End Cruel Blood Sport of Fox Hunting in Ireland
Limerick Racecourse: Stop hosting cruel hare coursing
Coillte - Ban hunters from your forests
Ban Fur Sales on eBay
Stormont Northern Ireland Assembly: Ban Fox and Stag Hunting in Northern Ireland
Fodor's Travel Guides: Stop directing tourists to bullrings
Bishop Bill Murphy: Stop clergy involvement in cruel coursing
Dunnes Stores: Lift Ban on Animal Charities Fundraising
Arts Council of Ireland: Stop funding animal circuses
Ban the use of animals in Irish circuses
Stop the EU funding bullfighting
Stop Torturing Bears: End Bear Bile Farming In China
Stop China Wanting More Ivory!
Stop DoneDeal/ GumTree/ Buy & Sell Selling Animals
Stop badger culling and focus on a vaccination programme in Ireland
1 Million to Ban the Lion Trade
Add report option "Animal Abuse" on Facebook
Please make a donation to ICABS
If you like our work, please consider making a donation. 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 our work today - click on the Paypal button at www.banbloodsports.com to make a donation or send a cheque made payable to ICABS to ICABS, PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland. Thank you very much.
Top ways you can help the campaign
Keep hunters off your land
Make it known publicly that your land is off-limits to hunters. Place a preservation notice in your local newspaper now. Here is a sample notice that 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(s) of landowner]" For more information, click on Farmers at www.banbloodsports.com
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.
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Campaign newsletter of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports
02. Coursing cruelty complaint - No prosecution
03. The pitiful cry of a hare caught in a coursing net
04. Groups promoting blood sports "entitled to a tax exemption"
05. Cricket club urged to abandon coursing field
06. Dail Questions and Answers
07. Hare coursing cruelty highlighted on TV3's Morning Show
08. ICABS Video: Coursing bans around the world
09. Curragh hares being eaten by greyhounds: NPWS urged to investigate
10. Travel website replaces bullfight article with anti-bullfighting info
11. Easy Jet removes bullring photo from website
12. Original Travel thanked for removing bullfight content
13. No Fly Cruising removes bullring reference
14. Anti-bullfight protest outside Spanish Embassy
15. Victims of Ireland's cruel hare coursing
16. ICABS on Facebook and Twitter
17. Man fined Eur2,500 for unlawfully shooting stag
18. Irishman charged over black rhino horns
19. Renewed appeal: Urge Ticketmaster to stop selling bullfight tickets
20. Campaign Quotes
21. Petitions
http://www.change.org/petitions/petition-to-ban-horrific-hare-coursing-cruelty-in-ireland
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-sponsoring-hare-coursing-in-ireland#
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
23 Kildare Street
Dublin 2
cc: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Tel: (01) 631 3804
Fax: (01) 661 1201
18A The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry
Telephone: 068-57446
Fax: 068-57805
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Telephone: 01-6194020
Fax: 01-6764048
Find out the name of your TDs and their email addresses.
http://www.oireachtas.ie/members%2Dhist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=31&disp=const
http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?fn=/documents/Members_emails/document1.htm
Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Call: 1850 715 900
Text: 51551
Tweet: @TodaySOR
Tweet: @oconnellbrian
Games and Sports Exemption Section
Revenue Commissioners
Government Offices,
Nenagh, Co Tipperary.
Tel: 067-63377
Email: Chairmansoffice@revenue.ie,sportexemp@revenue.ie,michael.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Tweet a message to Revenue: @RevenueIE
Secretary
Dundalk Cricket Club
Dundalk, Co Louth.
Tel/Text: 087-2627893
Send a tweet: @DundalkCC
Leave a comment on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dundalk.Cricket.Club1
- Bodies established, and existing for, the sole purpose of promoting an amateur game or an amateur sport.
www.tv3.ie/3player/show/155/68310/1/The-Morning-Show
(forward to 11:00 minute mark)
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/man-charged-over-black-rhino-horns-29589613.html
President
Ticketmaster
8800 Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood
CA 90069, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ticketmaster
Twitter: @Ticketmaster
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
http://www.change.org/petitions/taoiseach-prime-minister-of-ireland-support-a-bill-to-ban-the-cruel-practise-of-live-hare-coursing-in-ireland
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-sponsoring-hare-coursing-in-ireland#
http://forcechange.com/30176/end-cruel-blood-sport-of-fox-hunting-in-ireland/#gf_1
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/limerick-racecourse-stop-hosting-cruel-hare-coursing
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/irish-forestry-board-ban-hunters-from-your-property
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/ban-fur-sales-on-ebay#
http://www.change.org/petitions/stormont-northern-ireland-assembly-ban-fox-and-stag-hunting-in-northern-ireland#
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/fodors-travel-guides-stop-directing-tourists-to-bullrings
http://www.change.org/petitions/bishop-bill-murphy-stop-clergy-involvement-in-cruel-coursing
http://www.change.org/petitions/dunnes-supermarket-end-your-ban-on-animal-groups
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/145/615/024/lift-ban-on-animal-charities-fundraising-at-dunnes-stores/
http://www.change.org/petitions/arts-council-of-ireland-stop-funding-animal-circuses
http://www.change.org/petitions/ban-the-use-of-animals-in-irish-circuses#
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/dacian-ciolos-european-agriculture-minister-stop-the-eu-funding-bullfighting#
http://forcechange.com/64173/stop-torturing-bears-end-bear-bile-farming-in-china
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/612/959/709/stop-china-wanting-more-ivory/
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/949/346/622/stop-donedeal-selling-animals/
http://www.change.org/petitions/irish-petition-against-badger-cull-to-minister-for-agriculture-simon-coveney-stop-badger-culling-in-ireland
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_lion_slaughter_for_sex_aides_d/?wnydVcb
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/add-report-option-animal-abuse-on-facebook.html
Top ways you can help the campaign •
Join our email list and respond to our Action Alerts
•
Become a campaign supporter and make a donation to help fund our efforts
•
Contact your local politicians and ask them to support a ban on blood sports
•
Be our friend on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Twitter and Youtube
•
Sign up for our free text alert service and receive occasional campaign updates to your phone
•
Link to our website and display one of our banners
•
Monitor blood sports meetings in your area and provide us with photos, video and reports.
•
Write a letter to your local newspaper about the cruelty of blood sports
•
Sign and collect signatures for our petitions
•
Organise a fund-raiser to help raise funds for the campaign
•
Set up an online anti-blood sports group (Myspace, Bebo, Facebook, etc) to cover your area.
•
Download, print and display our posters and leaflets
•
Set up an information stand at your school/library/youth group/adult group, etc
•
Introduce your friends to our website and encourage them to get involved.
•
Simply keeping your ear to the ground.
about any blood-sport related incidents in your area.
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