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Animal Voice, Issue 03, March 2014
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In this month's edition:
01. Disturbing response from Minister Simon Coveney
01. Disturbing response from Minister Simon Coveney
ICABS is appalled at a response from Minister Simon Coveney to a Dail Question from Maureen O'Sullivan TD.
Not only is the Minister refusing to ban disgusting digging-out and terrierwork cruelty, he is considering adopting "rules and procedures for the use of hunt terriers" into the Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Despite describing digging out as "unacceptable" in 2012, Minister Coveney has refused to act to save foxes from the cruelty involved.
Terrierwork involves sending terriers down into fox earths or drains to corner and attack foxes while hunters dig away the clay from above to get at the fox. Horrific injuries are sustained by both foxes and terriers - photos and footage of which have been brought to the attention of Minister Coveney.
It is disturbing that a Minister who previously recognised this practice as unacceptable is continuing to turn a blind eye to the suffering being caused to foxes.
Dail Question - Wednesday, 26th March, 2014
Maureen O'Sullivan TD: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider an outright ban on the inhumane practice commonly known as the digging out of foxes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney: Under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, lawful hunting of an animal may take place unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition. There is also provision under Section 25 of the Act for the Minister to establish a Code Of Practice to or adopt, in whole or in part, a code of practice established by another person, whether within the State or otherwise. The Hunting Association Ireland and the Irish Working Terrier Federation have set out rules and procedures for the use of hunt terriers. It is intended that these rules and procedures will be examined in the context of Section 25 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 with a view to adapting them as modern Codes of Practice under the Act.
ACTION ALERTS
Sign and share our petition:
"Irish Government: Save foxes and dogs from horrific cruelty"
Watch our campaign video
Please contact the Minister for Agriculture and demand an end to digging out and terrierwork.
Minister for Agriculture
Dear Minister,
I support the Irish Council Against Blood Sports' call on you to urgently outlaw both digging out and terrierwork. These horrendous acts of cruelty are carried out by sadistic individuals and also by merciless foxhunting groups (when terrified foxes try to find refuge underground). There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for this shameful animal abuse and it must be stopped.
Please make it an offence NOW to dig out any animal or send terriers below ground to catch and attack animals under any circumstances. I also call on you to outlaw the use of packs of hounds to harass, attack, injure and/or kill any animal.
Thank you, Minister. I look forward to your positive response.
[Your Name and Location]
02. Ireland is still a cruel country - Maureen O'Sullivan TD
In a speech in Dail Eireann this week, ICABS President Maureen O'Sullivan TD has declared that with hare coursing, foxhunting and digging-out still permitted, Ireland is still a cruel country when it comes to animals.
In the March 4th statement on the government's priorities for the year ahead, Deputy O'Sullivan outlined that despite the recent Animal Health and Welfare Bill (which contains exemptions for coursing and hunting), Ireland is "still a cruel country when it comes to our treatment of animals".
She stated: "We see that with the hare coursing - we're one of the very few countries to continue to allow that - because of injuries to both hares and greyhounds. We have the digging out of foxes - even [some] people who are foxhunters think that is cruel. We see serious neglect of horses. And even though there is a ban on stag hunting, it is blatantly being ignored. The badger [snaring] issue, animals in circuses, another fur farm has opened up, vivisection."
She went on to highlight the harrassment, physical assault and threats suffered by some of those peacefully protesting against cruelty, noting that "there is inactivity on the part of the Gardai when they bring up those issues."
Watch the extract above from Maureen's speech or see it in its entirety at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL8Wci9Z61Q
Visit Maureen O'Sullivan's website at http://www.maureenosullivan.ie and follow her on Twitter at @MaureenOSTD
03. Success: MyCharity.ie thanked for removing bullrun from fundraising list
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has thanked MyCharity.ie for removing the cruel Pamplona bullrun from its suggested list of fundraising events. The content was deleted following an ICABS appeal which highlighted the animal cruelty and the danger to participants.
We pointed out that during the infamous bullrun, bulls are scared into stampeding through the use of sticks and electric shock prods and that along the route of the run, the animals are at risk of slipping and sustaining bruises and broken bones. Later in the day, the bulls suffer twenty minutes of torture in the Pamplona bullring before being brutally killed.
Also flagged was the danger to those taking part in the cruel event. "We believe efforts to raise money to help alleviate human suffering is entirely incompatible with the Pamplona bullrun - an event which is highly dangerous to humans," we stated in our appeal. "Those running in the bullrun are at risk of of being carried away - dead or paralysed with serious lifelong injuries. There have been at least 13 fatalities during the bullrun over the years and numerous injuries. A BBC News correspondent described one such incident as follows: 'The fighting bull which gored [the victim] weighed half a tonne. It hit him in the abdomen, severed a main artery, sliced through his kidney and punctured his liver, before tossing him seven metres in the air...he died in hospital of massive blood loss.'"
Thumbs up to MyCharity.ie for this compassionate response. Check out the MyCharity.ie website for a list of fundraising ideas.
04. Coveney's crazy coursing claim
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has stated that hare coursing is run "in the interests of hares". The crazy claim was made in response to a question from ICABS president, Maureen O'Sullivan TD.
Parliamentary Questions and Answers
Maureen O'Sullivan, TD (Dublin Central, Independent)
To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that an organisation (details supplied) recently forcibly ejected two animal welfare campaigners from the National Coursing Meeting preventing them filming, even though the organisation officials publicly said everyone was welcome at coursing meetings; if he has ever attended or seen film footage of a coursing meeting; and if so under what circumstances he considers coursing a sport.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
Under the provisions of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 the regulation of coursing is chiefly a matter for the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry, greyhound racing and coursing.
The National Coursing meeting was organised by the ICC. My Department had no role in the organisation of this event accordingly the Deputy should address her concerns regarding admission to the event to the ICC who are the appropriate authority to deal with the matter.
The ICC has confirmed that it has systems in place to underpin the welfare of animals participating in coursing events. These include mandatory inspections of hares and coursing venues in advance of the commencement of an event. Greyhounds involved in coursing are subject to the provisions of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 and the Code of Practice for the care and welfare of greyhounds, published by Bord na gCon. The ICC has assured my Department that it goes to great lengths to ensure the highest standards are adhered to during coursing.
The ICC ensures that a veterinary surgeon and a control steward are present at all coursing meetings. In addition to this, veterinary staff from my Department and rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) carry out random monitoring inspections during the coursing season to verify compliance with the licences and the rules governing animal welfare.
As a further control, a Monitoring Committee on Coursing was established during the 1993/94 coursing season and is comprised of officials from my Department and representatives from both the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the ICC to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interests of hares and greyhounds alike.
A very high proportion (98.09%) of the hares captured for hare coursing were returned to the wild at the end of the 2012/2013 season.
ACTION ALERT
Sign a petition -
"Minister Coveney: Save Irish hares from cruel coursing"
Tell Minister Simon Coveney that a ban on coursing is in the interests of hares
Simon Coveney, TD
05. "Corrupt Science": BBC upholds complaint against badger snaring article
The BBC has upheld a complaint about an article on the BBC News website which suggested that the Irish badger cull was responsible for helping to control TB in cattle.
The article "How did the Irish badger cull play out?" was published on the BBC News website on 31 May 2013 and sought to analyse the success or not of badger culling in the Republic of Ireland.
An initial complaint that the "BBC was inaccurate and misleading in saying that data seemed to back up the claim that culling badgers in the Republic of Ireland had led to a reduction in TB in cattle" was rejected. However, on appeal, the corporation acknowledged that the claimed links between killing Irish badgers and a reduction in bovine TB is "scientifically unproven".
In the appeal, the complainant said that he believed that the BBC article had been wrong to say that data "seemed to back up"
the claim that culling badgers in the Republic of Ireland had led to a reduction in bovine TB and that the piece should have exposed the lack of a relationship between badger culling and bovine TB levels. He also said that the article had been misleading by failing to point out that the Irish Government used cull data from 2000 rather than 1984 when the cull started. He said that there was no significant trend between badgers killed and bovine TB levels between 1984 and the present while there was a spike in TB numbers from 1999. He said that to start from the 1999 figure was "corrupt science" and that the BBC should have spotted this.
The BBC committee which considered the appeal said it "took full account of all the available evidence" in reaching its decision.
It stated: "The committee began by looking at what data there was to support the belief that a badger cull had led to a reduction in TB in cattle. It noted that the Irish Government’s statistics on the number of cattle in the Republic of Ireland diagnosed with TB showed 30,188 infected in 1984, when the cull started, 39,847 in 2000 and 18,476 in 2012. While noting this drop in infected cattle since 2000, the Committee considered that it was unclear what could be attributed to the culling of badgers as it noted that the current programme to curb bovine TB in Ireland contained a wide range of measures, such as a mandatory registration system for herds, a comprehensive programme of disease surveillance as well as disease and hygiene controls."
It went on to concede that "the statistics and scientific studies about the link between badger culling and bovine TB levels were inconclusive" and that therefore "the language used in the article had not been sufficiently precise as it suggested that the badger cull might be a factor in helping control the disease when this was scientifically unproven."
"While the data did show a decline in the number of cattle infected with TB in Ireland, there was no conclusive evidence to show that the badger cull had been categorically responsible for any of this decline and so it was inaccurate to say that, along with other measures, it can help control the disease," the Committee's response outlined, adding "the Committee also noted that the statistics showed that levels of bovine TB in Ireland were at historically low levels, although it again observed that a wide range of factors could have influenced this data apart from the badger cull."
The Irish Department of Agriculture's cruel badger culling (previously condemned as "slaughter masquerading as science") has left an estimated 100,000 badgers dead so far. The animals are caught in snares and later shot in the head.
Read the full text of the BBC response and please respond to our action alerts.
ACTION ALERTS
Demand an end to the cruel snaring and killing of badgers.
Sign our petition
Please appeal to Agriculture Minister 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 Animal Health and Welfare Act, for which he is responsible, clearly states: "A person shall not do, or fail to do, anything or cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering to, or endanger the health or welfare of, an animal". Tell him that research has shown that "badger culling apparently has the capacity to increase badger-to-badger transmission of infection, potentially undermining anticipated reductions in badger-to-cattle transmission."
Minister Simon Coveney
Please write to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs and to 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 Jimmy Deenihan
Email: ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie
Constituency Details
Director, Licensing Unit
06. Local and European Elections 2014: Candidates and Animal Issues
Before you vote in the upcoming local and European elections, check out our guide to the candidates' views on animal issues.
Please question your local candidates about where they stand on fox hunting, hare coursing, etc and let us know their responses.
Please choose compassionate candidates on Friday 23rd May.
07. Pet food company Kasko asked to disassociate from cruel coursing
Pet food company, Kasko, is being urged to stop advertising in booklets for cruel hare coursing. The Cashel-based distributor of cat and dog food had a full page advert in the booklet for the national hare coursing finals.
In an email to International Kennel Supplies / Kasko, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports highlighted the cruelty of hare coursing, outlining that it involves hares running for their lives from greyhounds and that every season there are hare injuries and deaths.
"Hare coursing is so cruel, it has been outlawed in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and here in the Republic of Ireland, a majority of citizens want coursing outlawed," we stated in our correspondence. "It is especially surprising that a company with a customer base comprising animal lovers would wish to be in any way connected to the activity."
"Being associated with a form of animal cruelty is likely to prove very off-putting to many potential customers," we added.
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in appealing to Kasko / International Kennel Supplies to fully disassociate from cruel coursing and give a commitment that no further ads will be placed in coursing booklets. If their association with a cruel bloodsport would make you choose different pet food, please make this clear in your correspondence.
Kasko / International Kennel Supplies
Tel: +353 62 61240
08. Musician Kieran Kennedy: "I love bullfighting"
ICABS was dismayed to hear Irish musician Kieran Kennedy declaring on NewsTalk Radio: "I love bullfighting". (Listen to the comment on Facebook)
The comment came during a 25th March interview on the Pat Kenny radio show which featured Maria Doyle Kennedy and husband Kieran (who are collaborating on an album featuring the poetry of Federico García Lorca).
Asked what it is he likes about the Spanish poet (whose poems include Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter), musician and producer Kieran replied: "He represents Spain really for me. I love bullfighting. I love flamenco..."
In a message to Kieran Kennedy, ICABS expressed great disappointment at his comment. We highlighted the horrific torture and killing of bulls in bullfighting.
"How can you 'love' an abhorrent activity that causes such suffering?" we asked. "In Spain's blood-soaked bullrings, bulls are slowly tortured with spears and spiked banderillas. After 20 minutes of this barbarity, the exhausted, disorientated and heavily bleeding bulls are killed with a sword plunged between the shoulder blades. Sometimes, ears and tails are cut off while the bulls are still conscious. Doing this to an animal in Ireland would rightly result in arrest and prosecution for animal cruelty."
"We implore you to reflect on the gruesome reality of bullfighting and side with the majority who recognise that bullfighting is to be loathed, not loved," we added.
ACTION ALERT
Appeal to Maria Doyle Kennedy to keep bullfighting-themed Lorca poems off her forthcoming spoken word album.
Email: mermaid@mariadk.com
09. Foxhunting Cruelty: A focus on earth blocking
The blocking of fox earths and badger setts to prevent pursued foxes from escaping underground is just one of the cruelties of foxhunting in Ireland. Earth-blocking is carried out to force the fox to run for longer and so prolong the chase for hunters. In this video, we see the sickening aftermath of a foxhunt's earth-blocking activities.
If a fox does manage to find refuge below ground, the hunt's terriermen are called in - they send terriers down the hole in the ground to attack and corner the fox. The earth is then dug away from above and the fox is brutally killed.
Other foxes are killed by the pack of hounds - when they are caught, the hounds bite into their flesh and tear them apart.
Foxhunting must be banned in Ireland. Please join the campaign for a foxhunting ban. See below for action alerts.
ACTION ALERTS
Sign our "Ban Blood Sports in Ireland" petition
Please join us in appealing to the Minister for Agriculture to give wild animals the same protection that is given to domestic animals. Tell the Minister that since all animals are capable of suffering, all animals should be protected from cruelty. Demand the removal of an exemption for foxhunting from Ireland's Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Simon Coveney, TD
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
Contact An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and An Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Ask them to show compassion for foxes and hares and ban hunting and coursing.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
An Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore
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 an artificial lure instead of a live animal. This form of "hunting" is already practised successfully by a few groups in Ireland. In a modern and civilised country like Ireland, there should be no place for foxhunting, particularly when a transition to drag hunting would be simple.
Please contact all your local politicians and ask them to express their opposition to this blood sport. Encourage your friends, family and workmates to contact them too.
Write to your TD at:
Write to your Senator at:
Find out the names of your TDs and their email addresses
If you have information about badger setts being interfered with, please report it to your location conservation ranger and forward details to ICABS.
10. Complaints to Westmeath Examiner over front page foxhunters
The Westmeath Examiner has published a photo of foxhunters on the front page of its current edition (bizarrely, the retirement of a hunt master is considered front page news). ICABS has expressed disappointment to the newspaper and highlighted the cruelty of foxhunting.
ACTION ALERT
Join us in asking the Westmeath Examiner to stop giving positive publicity to foxhunters and to instead expose the shameful cruelty of the activity.
Brian O'Loughlin
Tel: +353 (0) 44 93 46747
Westmeath Foxhunt cruelty:
A 2011 Farmers' Journal hunting report told of how sixteen mounted followers of the Westmeath hunt, along with 29 hounds, found a fox that was caught and "chopped." Later on, another fox was "overhauled before he managed to put any distance between himself and them." Both "chopped" and "overhauled," in hunting terminology, mean that the fox was caught by the hounds and brutally killed.
In 2007, there was a probe into allegations that a rope was tied to the leg of a fox and that it was pulled out of a burrow and fed alive to the dogs - See Irish Independent report - www.independent.ie/irish-news/top-hunt-probed-in-cruelty-claim-26333741.html
A 2008 Irish Field report revealed that the Westmeath Hunt's hounds chased a fox into the freezing water of the Royal canal and along its banks - the fox and the pack swam across the canal and continued along the banks to the Mullingar/Ballynacargy Road...the fox, with four and a half couple (9 hounds) in pursuit, then swam the canal again before retracing their steps back to Newman's Bog." Following complaints, Waterways Ireland moved to contact the hunt and tell them to keep away from the Royal Canal.
The Irish Field of December 1991 documented the obscene ritual of cutting off the tails and tongues of foxes - "Terriers were some time in coming as car followers were the wrong side of the wind for hearing. A quick dig followed and two foxes were dispatched. Eamon had a brush for Clarissa and a fox's tongue which he intends pickling in vinegar to cure warts and draw thorns." (Westmeath Foxhounds, Hunt Report)
11. 232,285 animals used in animal experiments in Ireland in 2012
232,000 animals used in Irish lab experiments in 2012
Figures released by the Department of Health show 232,285 animals were used for experimentation in 2012 — a fall of 32,679 compared with 2011.
However, the figure is still substantially higher than previous years. Just 38,000 were used in live experiments in 2005, rising to 64,378 in 2007.
More than 90% of the animals were used for experiments conducted in “commercial establishments”, with the remainder used for research in universities and colleges, hospitals, agriculture and veterinary institutes, fish farms and fisheries research institutes.
The type of animals experimented on included horses, dogs, cats, mice, rats, cattle, goats, fish, birds, sheep, pigs, rabbits and guinea pigs.
The Irish Anti-Vivisection Society (IAVS) welcomed the drop in numbers, but said “it is a major concern that the bulk of these animals are being tested on in commercial establishments, indicating that financial considerations are overriding animal protection. For instance, the steep increases in recent years have been almost entirely down to very severe toxicity tests called Lethal Dose 50% (LD5O) for the sake of Botox and similar cosmetics products,” said a statement.
The contentious LD50 test aims to determine the lethal dose of a toxin that kills exactly half of the animals used in an experiment.
More than 93% of the 170,058 animals used in “toxicological and other safety evaluations” here in 2012 were subjected to the LD50 test.
The figures also show an increase in the number of rats (+2,136 to 12,612), guinea pigs (+938 to 1,483), rabbits (+383 to 1,098), cats (+65 to 185), dogs (+224 to 697) and ‘other mammals’ (+275 to 755) who were subjected to experiments without any anaesthesia. The number of animals experimented on under full anaesthesia also dropped from 25,698 to 9,846.
The IAVS hit out in the delay in publishing the statistics which it said were not fit for purpose as they did not fully inform people of the types of experiments that were being carried out on animals.
12. Convicted dog fighting gang walk free from NI court
Convicted dog fighting gang walk away from one of NI's worst animal cruelty cases
Animal welfare charity, the League Against Cruel Sports has expressed grave disappointment at the lenient punishment handed down to the four men responsible for some of the most horrendous cruelty ever uncovered in the North.
Jeremiah Kirkwood, his two sons Christopher and Wayne Kirkwood, and Edward Morrow appeared in Laganside Court today to face sentencing after last weeks delay due a plea of mitigation on behalf of the men. All four have spent the past week remanded in custody whilst the Judge considered their plea. The charges included: Causing unnecessary suffering to four terrier cross puppies; Possession of a battery pack, lamps, a dog harness and a trap for use in connection with an animal fight; Keeping or training animals for an animal fight. Judge Donna McColgan sentenced the defendants to a six month sentence suspended for two years and a ten year ban on keeping animals. The guilty men laughed and jeered at police officers as they walked free from the courtroom.
The charity had expected the guilty gang would receive custodial sentences as punishment for their horrendous acts of cruelty. The PSNI seized dog fighting paraphernalia and extremely graphic film footage of cruelty from the Kirkwood family’s Belfast home exhibiting the criminal gang’s sustained and systematic campaign of animal cruelty. The horrific nature of the crimes caused public outrage which included online social media campaigns, a planned protest outside the court house by animal welfare groups and public condemnation of the cruelty by East Belfast MP Naomi Long.
League Against Cruel Sports Northern Ireland spokesperson, Janice Watt said: “We would like to express our frustration and disappointment at the leniency shown to the men who are guilty of some of the worst animal cruelty ever seen in N. Ireland. The lack of a custodial sentence has sent out a message that people involved in this type of despicable cruelty can get off with a slap on the wrist. We also believe they should have received a lifetime ban from keeping animals instead of just ten years; it simply isn’t good enough.
“The PSNI worked extremely hard to bring this case to court in the hope of getting justice for the countless animals who suffered at the hands of this gang. Cases like this need to utilise the full force of the law to deter anyone who participates in the horrifically barbaric and illegal activity of animal fighting. Sadly, the unique opportunity to make an example of these cruel individuals has passed and essentially made a mockery of our judicial system."
13. Renewed appeal to Ticketmaster to stop selling tickets to cruel bullfights
International ticket selling company, Ticketmaster, is again being 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."
Ticketmaster's Spanish website is continuing to offer tickets for bullfighting events.
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in telling Ticketmaster to stop selling animal cruelty tickets.
Jared Smith
Email: michaelrapino@livenation.com (Michael Rapino, CEO, Live Nation Entertainment)
Or email from: http://ticketmasterus.custhelp.com/app/askNoTabs
14. Success: Just Resorts delete bullring from "Marbella holiday highlights"
Luxury resort travel company, Just Resorts, has been thanked for removing a reference to bullfighting from its website.
Following an appeal from the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, the Marbella Bullring was deleted from a list of "Marbella Holiday highlights".
The company's response is a big help to our ongoing campaign to encourage holidaymakers to avoid visiting bullrings.
A big thumbs up to Just Resorts for its compassionate move. Find out more about the Chesire-based company at http://www.justresorts.co.uk
Just Resorts joins a growing list of companies which have responded positively to ICABS appeals and removed references to bullfighting or bullrings. These include American Airlines, EasyJet, Jet2holidays, Marriott International, Hilton Hampton, Ebookers, Club Travel, Abbey Travel, Sunways, Low Cost Holidays.ie, Travel Department, Cancun Holidays Information Center, Co-op Travel, Ultimate Travel, No Fly Cruising, City Breaks 101, Original Travel, Escape Trips, Charter Travel, NY.T.Roma Hotel and Exclusive GP.
ACTION ALERT
Join our appeal to other companies to remove bullfighting from their websites. Check out our latest anti-bullfighting Action Alerts.
If you choose to holiday in a bullfighting country (Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela), please do not visit bullfighting arenas or museums. Avoid purchasing any bullfight-related souvenirs. Join the international campaign against bullfighting. Please register your opposition to this horrific blood sport with the governments and political representatives of bullfighting countries as well as to the local Ambassadors.
15. Success: Exclusive GP thanked for removing bullfight reference from website
A big thank you to Formula 1 Travel and Hospitality company, Exclusive GP, for removing a reference to bullfighting from its website.
Agreeing with ICABS that bullfighting is cruel and should be banned, a company spokesperson said that the reference should never have been included on the page and that it had been immediately removed.
The company's response is a big help to our ongoing campaign to encourage holidaymakers to avoid visiting bullrings.
A big thumbs up to Exclusive GP for its compassionate move. Find out more about the company and its services at http://www.exclusivegp.com
16. Charities urged to reject hunt fundraisers
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is renewing its call on Irish charities to show compassion for Irish wildlife and reject cynical fundraisers organised by hunting groups.
ICABS is well aware of the cynicism of the foxhunting fraternity in their public relations exercise of raising funds for charities in order to give themselves and their cruel activities a veneer of respectability and an acceptance in their local communities.
Charity fundraisers by hunts are on the increase and they are playing a role in keeping this blood sport alive.
These events usually take the form of a cross country chase during which it is emphasised that no animal gets killed.
However, these hunt rides are inextricably linked to the terrorisation and tearing apart of foxes.
Hunts which gain permission to cross land during a cross country charity ride effectively have their foot in the door and are more likely to retain that permission for subsequent hunt outings.
Furthermore, we believe that hunt fundraisers for charity are used as an opportunity to deceitfully "illustrate" false claims that foxes are rarely killed during a hunt. Those who take part in the fundraising ride for charity are given a distorted view of what the hunt is about.
Another function of these fundraising events is to secure positive publicity in the regional press.
As it is an ideal opportunity to draw attention away from their normal blood sport activities, the hunt never fail to alert the media. As a result they invariably get a favourable write-up - normally, of course, without a mention of the thousands of foxes which hunts cruelly slaughter every year.
ICABS fully understands how difficult it is for Irish charities to raise funds for their worthwhile work on behalf of humanity but, we appeal to them to take a principled stand against animal cruelty.
Our message is clear: Please refuse the hunt's "blood money" donation - those who accept are helping to keep blood sports alive.
"I am COMPLETELY opposed to blood sports - cruel, barbaric, inhuman" - Cllr Pat Kavanagh, 22nd March 2014. Pat Kavanagh is a "a Local Community, Environmental and Animal Welfare Campaigner". She is currently a Wicklow Town Councillor and will be running as a candidate for Wicklow County Council.
BadgerWatch Ireland has welcomed the fact that the BBC today accepted it was wrong to state that badger culling in the Republic of Ireland had reduced incidences of TB in cattle. The statement was following a complaint from a member of the public concerning an article published on the BBC Website on the 31st May 2013 "How did the Irish badger cull play out?" Bernie Barrett, National Co-ordinator Badgerwatch Ireland said that "Those who seek to justify the killing of badgers to reduce incidences of TB in cattle cannot play fast and loose with the facts of the situation. Ireland's pogrom of killing of badgers cannot be held up as a benchmark of excellence in animal disease control. Ireland's futile badger slaughter has simply confirmed that culling will never be a solution to bovine TB." from a BadgerWatch Ireland media statement, 7th March 2014
"David Cameron has abandoned attempts to relax the ban on fox hunting, after opposition from the Liberal Democrats and some Conservative MPs. The Prime Minister told MPs that - to his "regret" - the Coalition has been unable to agree on a move that would have allowed farmers to use large packs of dogs to help kill foxes. Ministers had been considering a bid to allow farmers to use packs of up to 40 dogs to flush foxes from cover where they could be shot. The current law allows only two dogs to be used." from David Cameron abandons bid to relax hunting ban, The Telegraph, 26th March 2014
"I am committed (as are my party) to animal welfare. I am a vegetarian all my life. I help animals in need, whenever I can. I would be totally against blood sports or any activity that hurts animals. Although there is no hunting in Dublin city, I will as a representative if elected, always consider the welfare of animals in any council policy decision and lobby against hunting, fur, animal testing." Donna Cooney (Green Party, Dublin City Council [Clontarf] Candidate), March 2014.
A Sligo woman has issued a heartfelt appeal for help in finding her missing dog Kai - her 'best friend and rock' - who is missing since the day her father died of cancer. Noelle Healy, an illustrator in Strandhill, Co Sligo, has been searching for Kai since the death of her father on January 13 after a year-long fight with cancer. For more details and a photo of Kai, see www.breakingnews.ie/discover/heartbroken-noelle-appeals-for-help-to-find-best-friend-kai-626184.html
In August last year, Dublin Zoo was quick to respond to a Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) supporter who asked whether or not birds on their site had been pinioned. In an email, a zoo spokesperson confirmed “The answer to your question is simple, Dublin Zoo does not pinion birds”. However, when CAPS Director, Liz Tyson, visited the zoo last week, it became clear that this was simply not the case. Dozens of flamingos are kept in an open top enclosure and each one of them has had one half of one wing severed. The zoo was contacted immediately after the visit for a statement but has, to date, failed to respond. Said Ms Tyson: “We remain extremely concerned that birds are routinely maimed in zoos and the zoos are deliberately misleading members of the public on this important issue. Many compassionate members of the public were horrified to learn that zoos use amputation as a means to hold animals captive. We are calling in the strongest possible terms for the practice of pinioning to be banned. Those people not wanting to be complicit in this cruel practice should ensure that they do not give the zoo their custom”. Ms Tyson added that the flamingos were not the only area of concern; also highlighting issues relating to the welfare of other animals and the lack of educational benefit the zoo serves. http://www.captiveanimals.org/news/2014/03/dublin-zoos-false-promise-over-bird-mutilation
"The Irish State already has a dismal record on the protection of its nation’s natural heritage." from a July 2013 Birdwatch Ireland statement.
Protest at Dublin Zoo, Saturday 29th March, 1pm - 3pm. Organised by NARA Campaigns www.naracampaigns.org/dublin-zoo.html
Help raise awareness about Ireland's animal cruelty issues - write letters to the editors of local and national newspapers to speak out against hare coursing, foxhunting, etc.
Simon Coveney and animal welfare
My stomach turned listening to RTE's 'Prime Time' interview with Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney on the subject of horse welfare.
But it wasn't just the thought of all those abandoned horses that sickened me. It was also Mr Coveney's professed concern for the welfare of animals generally and his boast that the new Animal Health and Welfare Act has greatly advanced the fight against animal cruelty. He spoke of his determination to alleviate the suffering of animals that are "welfare compromised".
Yet this is the same minister who specifically exempted hare coursing and fox hunting from prohibition under the act. Instead of protecting the fox and the hare from cruelty, the legislation fully permits the live baiting of these animals for 'sport'.
Can he not see, or accept, that a wild fox being chased until its lungs give out and exhaustion delivers it to a pack of hounds to be eviscerated is "welfare compromised"? And could this euphemism not also be applied to a hare that is terrorised, mauled and tossed about by dogs like a paper toy for the amusement of a crowd of gamblers and sightseers?
The welfare of a fox or fox cub that is dragged from its underground refuge with the aid of spades, terriers and poles wrapped with barbed wire is certainly compromised, whatever about claims that the hunt 'dig-out' is part of a proud rural tradition.
Instead of a horse cull, I suggest a (non-lethal) culling of politicians who claim to love animals while refusing to legislate against some of the worst animal cruelty practices in the world.
John Fitzgerald
Threat to hare is horror story that shames us
While welcoming the major conservation initiative to save the curlew and restore habitats essential to its survival, we should not lose sight of other species that are endangered or threatened.
It would be sad indeed if the haunting cry of the curlew, a feature of rural life from time immemorial and celebrated in Irish literature, song and folklore, were to become a mere memory kept alive only in books and ballads.
It has been quietly slipping away, with about 80pc of the curlew population lost to us since the 1970s.
But this evocative bird is not alone. Though not threatened to the same degree as the curlew, the Irish hare is listed by conservationists as vulnerable to extinction. Like the curlew, the hare is a precious and evocative part of our wildlife heritage. It is a living link to the Ice Age of 10,000 years ago, one of nature's great survivors.
Unfortunately, increasing urbanisation and the effects of modern agriculture, especially the vast monocultural grass and cereal tracts in the countryside and the mass cutting of hedges, have eroded its habitat, leading to what to the hare might as well be a desert. Compounding this is the grotesque practice of hare coursing.
Contrived chasing and disturbance of hares induces a form of stress that can kill them. Dr Donald Broom, professor of animal welfare at Cambridge University, has stated: "When a mammal like a hare is chased by a predator like a dog it will show physiological changes associated with extreme fear."
Such extreme responses, he adds, can result in reduced life expectancy and risk of cardiovascular breakdown. The number of hares killed outright or injured in coursing annually is only a tiny part of the horror story.
It is the long-term impact on the animals captured and subjected to this traumatic and unnatural ordeal that represents the greater coursing-related threat to the hare.
This unique mammal, which under legislation may be netted and used as bait by coursing clubs, should be designated a completely protected species.
The hare belongs to all of us. It is not the preserve of a heartless minority that sees it as a mere plaything for their "sport".
John Fitzgerald,
Hare-raising incident
I empathise with John Fitzgerald (Irish Independent, March 6) on his conservation efforts and certainly on his concern for the most timid of all small animals, the hare.
An incident in my early life involving that little creature is something I'll never forget.
It happened on a bright Sunday afternoon as my mother sat reading her 'favourite newspaper'. The back door was wide open and lo and behold – like a flash of lightning – in shot this desperate animal, landing straight into my nature-loving mother's lap. The ears were pricked, heart thumping, eyes of fear popping from the head. This was a hunted hare.
Within seconds the bloodthirsty pack of hounds were howling in the driveway and across the yard. On hearing them my father shot from his chair getting the door shut in the nick of time. I can assure you that frightened hare was nursed like a baby until it was fit to be safely released.
Although that experience was implanted in my mind, we had some greyhounds of our own and the picture gradually faded. Hopefully, not to my shame, I enjoyed many good hare coursing days after that.
Age is possibly the greatest tamer of mankind – now, I would frown on a cat killing a mouse.
James Gleeson,
19. Dail Questions and Answers
Question 284 - Answered on 11th March 2014
Maureen O'Sullivan TD: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in view of the fact that the NPWS stated uncertainty about the reproductive viability of hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hare removal and return (details supplied), if he will acknowledge and take on board ICABS's statement that coursing poses a serious risk not only to individual hares but also to local populations and the species as a whole; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Mr. Jimmy Deenihan, TD: My responsibility under the Wildlife Acts 1976 to 2012 relates to the protection of populations of protected species, such as hares, rather than to individual animals. Under the Wildlife Acts, hares are a protected species and may only be hunted during the Open Season, as prescribed by the Wildlife (Wild Mammals) (Open Seasons) Order 2005.
The NPWS statement referred to comes from the 2006 Report to the EU on the status of Habitats and Species protected under the Habitats Directive. That part of the Report references a number of scientific research papers which are used to inform the comments on hare population demographics. The quote reflects an opinion that further scientific research would be useful to ascertain the effect of hare coursing captures on hare population demographics. However overall, the evidence suggests that that the impact of coursing on the conservation status of hares nationally is negligible and may in fact have direct and indirect benefits for hare populations.
In 2013, Ireland submitted a second such report, which is available online at www.npws.ie. This second report identified changes in agricultural practices as the main pressure facing this species, in particular intensification of grassland usage. The scientific assessment was that the species is in favourable conservation status and the report on the hare concluded that “the hare is widespread and common in Ireland with a broad habitat niche. None of the identified threats are considered likely to impact on its conservation status.”
The most recent population estimate for the species was 535,000 animals. Coursing Clubs affiliated to the Irish Coursing Club capture in the region of 5,600 hares each coursing season, equivalent to approximately 1% of the national resource, and figures show that an average of 97.5% of the hares used at hare coursing meetings are returned to the wild.
Question 192 - Answered on 6th March 2014
Clare Daly TD: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider transferring the responsibility of greyhound registration from the Irish Coursing Club to Bord na gCon as many greyhound owners have no interest in participating in coursing.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Simon Coveney): The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) has been responsible for the Irish Greyhound Stud Book since 1923 and there have been no reported issues with the manner in which the ICC discharges this function.
The Irish Coursing Club is subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry, greyhound racing and coursing.
The deputy should be aware that it is not a condition of registering a greyhound in the Irish Greyhound Stud Book that an owner must be a participant in coursing or express an interest in coursing.
Regarding animal welfare controls the ICC has confirmed that it has systems in place to underpin the welfare of animals participating in coursing events. These include mandatory inspections of hares and coursing venues in advance of the commencement of an event. Greyhounds involved in coursing are subject to the provisions of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011 and the Code of Practice for the care and welfare of greyhounds, published by Bord na gCon. The ICC has assured my Department that it goes to great lengths to ensure the highest standards are adhered to during coursing.
Regarding the supervision of coursing events the ICC ensures that a veterinary surgeon and a control steward are present at all coursing meetings. In addition to this, veterinary staff from my Department and rangers from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (part of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) carry out random monitoring inspections during the coursing season to verify compliance with the licences and the rules governing animal welfare.
As a further control, a Monitoring Committee on Coursing was established during the 1993/94 coursing season and is comprised of officials from my Department and representatives from both the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the ICC to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interests of hares and greyhounds alike.
A very high proportion (98.09%) of the hares captured for hare coursing were returned to the wild at the end of the 2012/2013 season. Against this background as outlined, I have no plans to change the current arrangements for greyhound registrations.
Question 26 - Answered on 26th March, 2014
Maureen O'Sullivan TD: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline the regulations in place for sulky-racing due to the significant concerns regarding the welfare of the horses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney: Activities on the public road, including sulky racing are governed by the Road Traffic Acts and are enforced by the Gardai Siochana. These Acts impose an obligation pursuant to these acts on persons engaged in this activity to drive their vehicles with due care for other road users and not to indulge in dangerous driving of the vehicles. Officials of my Department in conjunction with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport are examining the legal avenues available to regulate this activity more effectively. In addition to the transport legislation, there is scope for local authorities under the Control of Horses Act, 1996 to introduce bye-laws regulating activities involving horses in their respective functional areas.
While not all sulky racing involves a threat to animal welfare, under the recently commenced Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, a person involved in any activity relating to animals is obliged to take all necessary measures to protect the welfare of the animal under his or her control. Section 12 of the Act provides protection for animals used in pursuits such as sulky racing by making it illegal to do anything causing unnecessary suffering or endangering the health or welfare of the animal. It also makes it an offence to be reckless regarding the health and welfare of an animal and under this Act, penalties for animal welfare violations have been increased and there is provision to disqualify a person convicted of an offence from owning, or having interest in, animals in the future.
Question 31 - Answered on 26th March, 2014
Maureen O'Sullivan TD: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider an outright ban on the inhumane practice commonly known as the digging out of foxes; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney: Under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, lawful hunting of an animal may take place unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition.
There is also provision under Section 25 of the Act for the Minister to establish a Code Of Practice to or adopt, in whole or in part, a code of practice established by another person, whether within the State or otherwise.
The Hunting Association Ireland and the Irish Working Terrier Federation have set out rules and procedures for the use of hunt terriers. It is intended that these rules and procedures will be examined in the context of Section 25 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 with a view to adapting them as modern Codes of Practice under the Act.
Ban Blood Sports in Ireland Now
Minister Coveney: Save Irish hares from cruel coursing
Irish Government: Save foxes and dogs from horrific cruelty
Minister Simon Coveney: Ban ALL Tail Docking - No Exemptions
Stop badger snaring cruelty NOW
Ask An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to Ban Hare Coursing
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Protect the Irish Hare
End Cruel Blood Sport of Fox Hunting in Ireland
Limerick Racecourse: Stop hosting cruel hare coursing
Coillte - Ban hunters from your forests
Drogheda Borough Council: Do not legalise urban 10 seater horse-drawn carriages in County Louth
National Trust - stop allowing hunters and terriermen on your land
Ban Fur Sales on eBay
Stormont Northern Ireland Assembly: Ban Fox and Stag Hunting in Northern Ireland
Ban Torturous Hanging of Greyhounds in Spain
Dunnes Stores: Lift Ban on Animal Charities Fundraising
Arts Council of Ireland: Stop funding animal circuses
Stop the EU funding bullfighting
Stop Torturing Bears: End Bear Bile Farming In China
Add report option "Animal Abuse" on Facebook
End Bullfighting in France
STOP Spain's cruel and barbaric Toro de la Vega
Please make a donation to ICABS
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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. Ireland is still a cruel country - Maureen O'Sullivan TD
03. Success: MyCharity.ie thanked for removing bullrun from fundraising list
04. Coveney's crazy coursing claim
05. "Corrupt Science": BBC upholds complaint against badger snaring article
06. Local and European Elections 2014: Candidates and Animal Issues
07. Pet food company Kasko asked to disassociate from cruel coursing
08. Musician Kieran Kennedy: "I love bullfighting"
09. Foxhunting Cruelty: A focus on earth blocking
10. Complaints to Westmeath Examiner over front page foxhunters
11. 232,285 animals used in animal experiments in Ireland in 2012
12. Convicted dog fighting gang walk free from NI court
13. Renewed appeal to Ticketmaster to stop selling tickets to cruel bullfights
14. Success: Just Resorts delete bullring from "Marbella holiday highlights"
15. Success: Exclusive GP thanked for removing bullfight reference from website
16. Charities urged to reject hunt fundraisers
17. Campaign Quotes
18. Letters to the Editor
19. Dail Q&A
20. Petitions
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
CC: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie (An Taoiseach)
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Tweet: @simoncoveney
Question 613 - Answered on 18th February, 2014
Minister Simon Coveney
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie
CC: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie (An Taoiseach)
Tel: 01-607 2884 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Visit our Campaign Page now.
Ireland: Stop badger snaring cruelty NOW
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs
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
National Parks and Wildlife Service
7 Ely Place, Dublin 2
Email: wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie
Tel: 01-888 3214
19 Main Street
Cashel, Co Tipperary
Email: btndistribution@eircom.net
Tweet: @mariadkennedy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariadoylekennedy
Sign Now
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street,
Dublin 2
Telephone: 01-6194020
Fax: 01-6764048
Office of the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Iveagh House,
80 St. Stephen's Green,
Dublin 2.
Tel: 01 6183566 (Dail)
Tel: 01 408 2000 (Iveagh House)
Fax: 01 408 2400
Email Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,eamon.gilmore@oireachtas.ie
Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 337 889.
Seanad Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 732 623.
Editor, Westmeath Examiner
Blackhall Place
Mullingar, Co. Westmeath
Email: editor@westmeathexaminer.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westmeathexaminer
Irish Examiner - 3rd March 2014
by Conall O Fatharta
Source: League Against Cruel Sports
13 March 2014
President
Ticketmaster
8800 Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood
CA 90069, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ticketmaster
Twitter: @Ticketmaster and @TicketmasterES
Irish Times, Mar 26th 2014
Campaign For The Abolition Of Cruel Sports
Callan, Co Kilkenny
Irish Independent, 6th March 2014
Campaign For The Abolition Of Cruel Sports
Co Kilkenny
Irish Independent, 10 March 2014
Thurles, Co Tipperary
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/minister-simon-coveney-replace-hare-coursing-with-drag-coursing
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/irish-government-save-foxes-and-dogs-from-horrific-cruelty
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/minister-simon-coveney-don-t-allow-hunters-to-cut-off-dogs-tails
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/irish-agriculture-minister-simon-coveney-stop-badger-snaring-cruelty-now
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://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/protect-the-irish-hare
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
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/drogheda-borough-council-do-not-legalise-urban-10-seater-horse-drawn-carriages-in-county-louth
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-national-trust-the-national-trust-stop-supporting-illegal-hunting-on-national-trust-land-2
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#
http://forcechange.com/24603/#gf_17
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
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.gopetition.com/petitions/add-report-option-animal-abuse-on-facebook.html
http://forcechange.com/94113/end-bullfighting-in-france
http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-toro-de-la-vega-2013
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
•
Connect with us on Facebook, 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 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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