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Animal Voice Action Alerts 2010
Animal Voice Action Alerts 2010
Please download and forward to all your friends. If possible, also print and distribute to friends, family members, libraries, animal welfare groups, etc
01. Demand an end to ads for blood sport dogs
01. Demand an end to ads for blood sport dogs
Their policy clearly states that "we do not accept ads that imply that the dog could/should be used for...killing prey" and "we do not accept ads that mention or imply digging" and "we do not allow ads that mention lamping".
However, adverts for such dogs continue to be displayed on the website on an ongoing basis. Among the dogs listed as "Sold" on the website are:
A Patterdale dog that "will make a very good hunter", a working terrier that is "great in hard cover & ditches - goes through like train", a patterdale that is "just starting to work" and a working Patterdale terrier which "will do a black and white and will do red lads" (badgers and foxes).
Also listed for sale on the Donedeal website was a lurcher that "will kill a fox with no help", a baiting dog whose "mother got killed in six hour dig" and a "very gamey dog that has been out hunting in the day time after hares". The latter showed a photo of a dog standing over a dead hare.
Please join us in urging Donedeal to act to deny those involved in blood sports the opportunity to use its website as a platform for selling dogs used in attacking wildlife.
ACTION ALERT
Ask Donedeal to introduce a screening process for dog adverts to prevent ads from being displayed if they contravene the company's policy or refer to illegal activities.
Mr Fred Karlsson
02. Ask Minister Gormley to halt hare coursing
Just weeks after an historic ban outlawing hare coursing in Northern Ireland, Minister John Gormley has issued a hare netting licence to coursers here in the Republic. The licence gives the go-ahead to another season of coursing cruelty.
The continuation of coursing puts even more pressure on our beleaguered hare population, which continues to be identified as a species under threat.
In its submission to the Convention on Biological Diversity last May, the National Parks & Wildlife Service stated that the Irish Hare is "experiencing pressure from loss of suitable habitat and hunting and consequently its status is considered poor".
Last season, as in every other season of coursing, hares were terrorised, stressed, injured and killed, as revealed in monitoring reports obtained from the National Parks under Freedom of Information.
For example, in Gorey, Co. Wexford last October, 12 hares were hit, 7 badly, with three deaths. Two days after coursing, the ranger discovered three more hares dead from injuries; in Ardpatrick & Kilfinane last December, 16 hares were hit, 5 injured, 3 killed and another dead hare was found afterwards; 1 hare suffering from a dislocated hip was put down.
At Tralee last December, 7 hares were hit, 1 put down, and a further 4 found dead afterwards; a ranger described a mauled hare with "marks on its back and bare areas", while a vet noted the cause of a hare death as "knocks sustained during coursing the previous day".
Another ranger noted that the muzzle came off a greyhound which caught a hare in its mouth and ran up the coursing field with the "hare hanging limp", while a hare with a damaged leg was noted at Fermoy.
In addition, licence conditions were routinely flouted or not properly adhered to with some clubs netting hares without the permission of the landowner, taking sick hares from the wild and hares not being released on time after meetings and not returned to their original habitat, as stipulated in the conditions.
One club even kept hares for a further 6 weeks after a coursing meeting in Donegal in November '09 for use at their next meeting last January.
Minister John Gormley has made history with the outlawing of the Ward Union carted deer hunt and he is to be rightly commended for this brave stand.
We appeal to him to now follow the example of Northern Ireland and the UK mainland and urgently bring this barbarism to an end.
Watch our Ban Hare Coursing in Ireland campaign video at www.youtube.com/icabs
ACTION ALERT
Urge Minister John Gormley to stop licensing coursing. Send a copy of your correspondence to all of your TDs and encourage them to back a ban on the blood sport.
Minister John Gormley
03. Clergy & Coursing - Ask Catholic Church authorities to act now
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has made a formal complaint to the Catholic Church after learning that a priest is chairman of a coursing development committee that "has been busy organising the Irish Coursing Club Stand [at the Ploughing Championships festival]".
According to the Sporting Press, the Irish Coursing Club's newspaper, "the Coursing Development Group Committee, under the Chairmanship of Fr Dan Dunne [of Ballyadams Parish, Co. Laois], has been busy organising the ICC Stand and they look forward to welcoming thousands into their marquee over the three days."
"It is utterly shameful that a Catholic priest should be promoting and developing a barbaric activity which has no place in a civilised society and should be long since banned," said Aideen Yourell, Spokesperson for the Irish Council Against Blood Sports. "Not only that, he is in direct contravention of the Catechism of the Catholic Church which clearly states that 'it is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer and die needlessly.'"
Hares do indeed suffer and die as documents obtained by ICABS under the Freedom of Information Act show. Reports for the last season 2009/10 reveal that in Gorey, 12 hares were hit, 7 badly, with three deaths. Two days after coursing, the ranger discovered three more hares dead from injuries.
In Ardpatrick & Kilfinane last December, 16 hares were hit, 5 injured, 3 killed and another dead hare was found afterwards; 1 hare suffering from a dislocated hip was put down.
At Tralee last December, 7 hares were hit, 1 put down, and a further 4 found dead afterwards; a ranger described a mauled hare with "marks on its back and bare areas", while a vet noted the cause of a hare death as "knocks sustained during coursing the previous day".
Another ranger noted that the muzzle came off a greyhound which caught a hare in its mouth and ran up the coursing field with the "hare hanging limp" while a hare with a damaged leg was noted at Fermoy.
ACTION ALERT
Send a letter of complaint to the Church authorities.
Mgr. Brendan Byrne
Send a copy of your correspondence to the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference
Make a complaint directly to Rev. Dan Dunne PP
04. Ask Fine Gael to modernise its animal welfare policies
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports is urging the Fine Gael party to modernise its animal welfare policies.
The call comes after a spokesperson stated that the party "supports country sports" and will "oppose any move by Government to deny groups the right to continue to pursue these activities".
The party has been criticised for also continuing to insist that if it gets into government after the next election, it will try to reverse the ban on the Ward Union hunt.
In a letter of complaint to Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, ICABS slammed the party's stance on animal cruelty activities.
We stated: "We wish to convey to you our disbelief that a modern party like Fine Gael is continuing to side with the merciless minority who take pleasure in abusing animals and subjecting them to the most horrendous cruelty.
"This stance reflects very poorly on Fine Gael," we added. "We hope that your party can modernise its animal welfare policies and bring them in line with the overwhelming view in Ireland that animal cruelty is wrong and should be legislated against."
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in urging Enda Kenny to Modernise Fine Gael’s Animal Welfare Policies.
Enda Kenny, TD
Email: enda.kenny@finegael.ie [CC: finegael@finegael.com]
Fax letter to:
Please contact your local TDs and urge them to back a ban on all blood sports. Write to them at Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.
05. Department urged to scrap squirrel shoot sponsorship
ICABS has asked the Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith, to stop his Department's sponsorship of a squirrel killing contest.
According to a report in the Irish Times, the forestry service of the Department sponsored a Euro6,500 fund in 2009 which saw shooting clubs being awarded cash prizes for blasting "alien" grey squirrels to death.
Clubs in Meath killed 214 squirrels and were awarded Euro1,600 while shooters in Monaghan won Euro1,100 for their tally of 196.
"We implore you to stop using taxpayers' money to incentivise wildlife destruction," ICABS said in an appeal to the Minister. "Please do not to give any further funds to shooters."
ACTION ALERT
Send "Stop using taxpayers' money to fund squirrel killing competitions"
Minister Brendan Smith
Email: minister@agriculture.gov.ie
06. Help us get cruel bird traps banned
ICABS has launched a campaign aimed at securing a ban on Larsen traps. These cruel traps are used to catch magpies and other birds.
Designed in Denmark in the 1950s, they are now banned there due to the suffering caused. They use a permanently trapped bird to lure in other birds. The unsuspecting victims fly down on to the trap, fall through a collapsing floor and find themselves trapped too.
Before being brutally killed, they will be overcome with the fear and stress of confinement. Some will suffer thirst, hunger and starvation while others will sustain broken beaks and cut heads from futile attempts to smash their way to freedom.
When magpie parents are caught, their orphaned chicks will starve to death in nests.
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in calling on Minister John Gormley to urgently introduce a ban on Larsen traps.
Minister John Gormley
The cruelty of Larsen traps
"Phil Wilson, chief superintendent of the RSPCA's prosecution department, said: 'It is the RSPCA's view that these [Larsen] traps are inherently cruel.' He added: 'There is no evidence that magpies have a significant effect on the songbird population.'"
(From Larsen trapper convicted of cruelty to magpie)
"I consider the Larsen trap to be rather inhumane. I know in Denmark where the trap was developed it is banned for this reason but it is legal in the UK. I have been watching a magpie in a trap (food and water provided) for 4 days now and it appears distressed with a lot of repetitive actions."
(Comment posted on a UK bird club forum)
"The wild 'decoy bird', its most vital instincts frustrated and abused by confinement, suffers a most terrible fate."
(From the website of Against Corvid Traps)
"I have found many larsen traps with dead decoy birds which appeared to have died from starvation."
(From an Irish eye-witness)
"Magpies are incredibly intelligent and beautiful birds. Have you ever seen a live magpie used in a Larsen Trap. It was one of the most horrible things I have ever seen. This intelligent bird was totally demented (I let it out)."
(From online discussion about Larsen traps)
07. Thank Green Party for staghunt ban success
ICABS applauds Minister John Gormley and his colleagues in the Green Party for the success of the Wildlife Amendment Bill 2010.
This historic piece of legislation bans the cruel Ward Union hunt. It was introduced by Minister Gormley and he and his fellow Green Party TDs worked hard to ensure that it secured majority support in Dail Eireann for the crucial vote in June 2010.
We applaud the courage of the Greens in pushing this important legislation through the Oireachtas in the face of hostility from all sides of the house.
ACTION ALERT
Please send a message of thanks and congratulations to Minister John Gormley and all the Green Party TDs and Senators
Alternatively write to the Green Party TDs/Senators at Dail Eireann or Seanad Eireann, Kildare St, Dublin 2. Thank you.
Send a copy of your letter to the Green Party's Head Office.
08. Thank all TDs who voted for ban
Please also send a message of thanks to your TDs who voted in favour of the ban. If TDs in your constituency voted against the ban, please lodge a complaint with them now. Contact them at Dail Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
TDs who voted in favour of the staghunt ban: Bertie Ahern, Dermot Ahern, Michael Ahern, Noel Ahern, Barry Andrews, Chris Andrews, Bobby Aylward, Niall Blaney, Aine Brady, Cyprian Brady, Johnny Brady, John Browne, Thomas Byrne, Dara Calleary, Pat Carey, Niall Collins, Margaret Conlon, Mary Coughlan, Brian Cowen, John Cregan, Ciarán Cuffe, John Curran, Noel Dempsey, Jimmy Devins, Timmy Dooley, Frank Fahey, Michael Finneran, Michael Fitzpatrick, Sean Fleming, Beverley Flynn, Paul Gogarty, John Gormley, Noel Grealish, Mary Harney, Sean Haughey, Maire Hoctor, Billy Kelleher, Peter Kelly, Brendan Kenneally, Michael Kennedy, Tony Killeen, Michael Kitt, Tom Kitt, Conor Lenihan, Martin Mansergh, Jim McDaid, Tom McEllistrim, Finian McGrath, Michael McGrath, John McGuinness, John Moloney, Michael Moynihan, Michael Mulcahy, M J Nolan, Eamon O Cuív, Sean O Fearghail, Darragh O'Brien, Charlie O'Connor, Willie O'Dea, Noel O'Flynn, Batt O'Keeffe, Ned O'Keeffe, Mary O'Rourke, Christy O'Sullivan, Maureen O'Sullivan, Peter Power, Seán Power, Dick Roche, Eamon Ryan, Trevor Sargent, Eamon Scanlon, Brendan Smith, Mary Wallace, Mary White, Michael Woods.
09. Complain to Labour for voting against hunt ban
Despite many Labour Party TDs previously expressing their opposition to blood sports, most of the party's TDs voted AGAINST a ban on the Ward Union hunt.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports deplores the party's decision to oppose the legislation. On the eve of the Dail Eireann vote, we reminded Labour Party TDs of their previously stated anti-blood sports views
However, with the exception of Deputy Tommy Broughan (who abstained from voting) and former ICABS vice-chairperson, Michael D Higgins, TD (who was absent from the Dail on medical grounds), all the other Labour TDs voted against the stag hunt ban.
They are: Joan Burton, Sean Sherlock, Eamon Gilmore, Pat Rabbitte, Joe Costello, Brendan Howlin, Ciaran Lynch, Kathleen Lynch, Liz McManus, Brian O'Shea, Jan O'Sullivan, Willie Penrose, Ruairi Quinn, Roisin Shortall, Emmet Stagg, Joanna Tuffy, Mary Upton and Jack Wall.
ACTION ALERT
Please express your disappointment to the Labour Party TDs who voted against the ban. Write to them at Dail Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Send a copy of your correspondence to the party's head office.
Labour Party Head Office
10. The Labour Party's U-turn TDs
Several of the Labour Party TDs who voted against the ban on the cruel Ward Union deer hunt, previously expressed opposition to blood sports. They include party leader, Eamon Gilmore, TD who is on record as saying "I am opposed to...stag hunting."
The others who went against previously stated views are:
Joe Costello , TD: "I am opposed to all blood sports." (Speaking as a Senator in 2000).
Liz McManus, TD: "I support a ban on...carted deer hunting."
Jan O'Sullivan, TD: "I will allow you to add my name on to the list of T.D.'s who do not support bloodsports"
Emmet Stagg: "The Labour Party commits itself to working...to bring about an end to hare coursing and other so-called field sports." (1993)
Pat Rabbitte, TD: "I do not support bloodsports"
Ruairi Quinn, TD: "Personally, I am against the hunting of live animals with dogs i.e. fox hunting, live hare coursing and carted deer hunting."
11. Disappointment at latest NPWS coursing recommendation
ICABS has expressed disappointment to the National Parks and Wildlife Service over their latest recommendation to issue a licence to hare coursers to net thousands of hares.
In a letter to the NPWS Species Protection Unit, we reminded them of a report from earlier this year in which they reiterated that the conservation status of the Irish Hare is poor.
Stressing that the NPWS is entrusted to conserve the hare species, we pointed to the body's submission to the Convention on Biological Diversity in May in which they once again confirmed that the status of the hare is poor and that one of the contributing factors is hunting activities.
Also flagged was a statement in a NPWS document which casts uncertainty over the "reproductive viability of hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hare removal and return".
This acknowledgment should itself prompt the NPWS to block the exploitation of the species instead of continually recommending its continuance.
"Given the current poor conservation status of the hare and the negative impact that coursing is known to have on the species, it is highly surprising that the NPWS continues to facilitate this deplorable activity which is now illegal in all our neighbouring jurisdictions," we stated.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service is charged with the conservation of the hare species. Crucially, the Wildlife Act defines conservation as including "measures to maintain or enhance or restore the quality, value or diversity of species..."
There is no doubt that recommending a licence for removing thousands of hares from their habitats, transporting them in crates, keeping them in confinement for weeks and months, forcing them to run for their lives in front of muzzled greyhounds, corralling them in coursing enclosures and the handing of them by humans is the antithesis of conservation.
By recommending the licensing of this blood sport, the NPWS is clearly not fulfilling its role of conserving the species.
Instead of backing the continuation of coursing, the NPWS should be proactively working to eliminate all threats to the hare to maximise the future health of the species.
In our correspondence to the NPWS, ICABS enquired if they took into account the breaches of the 2009/10 coursing licence before recommending another licence for 2010/11. We are currently awaiting a reply.
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in asking the NPWS Species Protection Unit to explain why it has recommended the licensing of a blood sport that causes massive interference to the Irish Hare species and which results in stress, injury and death to hares.
Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe
Tel: +353-1-888 2000
Email: ciaran.o'keeffe@environ.ie
12. Complaint against Coast's hare coursing content
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has complained to the BBC about a recent edition of its Coast programme (Series 5, episode 5) in which coursing was portrayed in a positive light.
In our letter of complaint, we challenged the bizarre notion presented on the programme that coursing is somehow beneficial to hares.
Referring to the capture of hares from Oyster Island in Sligo for use in coursing, presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff stated that "I'm not comfortable with the idea that hares should be managed for sport" but then added that "here, there may be a positive side to it."
"To suggest that hares on an isolated, non-inhabited island could somehow benefit from being violently netted, thrown in crates, removed from their natural habitat, brought to the mainland, kept in captivity for weeks/months, trained to run up a coursing field and eventually forced to run for their lives in front of greyhounds is utterly laughable," ICABS stated in our correspondence to the BBC.
We also challenged a statement made on the programme by Dr Neil Reid who commented that coursing is "quite popular" in Ireland.
ICABS emphasised that coursing is certainly not popular in Ireland and that it is very much a minority activity. We highlighted that successive opinion polls have shown that a majority of Irish people want the blood sport outlawed.
The injury and death caused to hares was glossed over in Coast in favour of presenting the activity in a positive light.
The impression given was that hares happily continue with their lives after release. However, the reality is that the coursing ordeal compromises the hare's chances of survival.
The creatures are at risk of dying weeks and months afterwards and indeed dead hares have been found post-release.
The subsequent survival of hares is an issue the National Parks and Wildlife Service has acknowledged. In one of their reports, they question the "reproductive viability of hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hare removal and return".
ICABS is very disappointed at the Coast programme for choosing to portray a cruel blood sport in a positive light. We have told them that this is offensive to the majority of Irish people who support our campaign to get this disgusting activity outlawed. We have called on them to address our points as part of any re-broadcast of this edition of the programme.
ACTION ALERT
Join us in our appeal to the BBC to exclude the positive portrayal of hare coursing from future airings of Coast. Urge them to avoid featuring animal cruelty activities on upcoming programmes.
Write to: BBC Complaints, PO Box 1922, Darlington, DL3 0UR, UK
Email your letter from: BBC Website
See more information about the programme at
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tfv4z
13. Clonmel Chamber asked to Stop Promoting Coursing
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has called on Clonmel Chamber of Commerce to stop promoting the blood sport of hare coursing. On its website and in a Discover Clonmel brochure, the chamber describes the local cruelty festival as "a colourful and unique sporting occasion".
In an email to Clonmel Chamber of Commerce CEO, Brian Cleary, and President, Tina Mulhearne, ICABS stated:
"We wish to express our disbelief and disappointment that Clonmel Chamber of Commerce deems it appropriate to present the cruel blood sport of hare coursing as a visitor attraction. On your website, coursing is described as a 'sport'. Photographs show greyhounds running but there is no sign of the frightened hares running for their lives."
The Discover Clonmel brochure features two pages about hare coursing and a listing for a planned coursing meeting in 2011.
Earlier this year, Ms Mulhearne welcomed coursers to the town. In a statement, it was noted that she "sent the best wishes of the organisation to the National Coursing Festival that celebrates its 85th year in Clonmel next week".
"From a business perspective the festival is a much welcomed boost to the town," she said, adding that "the influx of visitors to the town adds to the overall atmosphere."
ICABS criticised the Chamber's attitude to this blood sport, saying "coursing is an activity Clonmel Chamber should be shunning, not embracing." We pointed to the majority opposition to coursing in Ireland and highlighted that coursing is illegal in neighbouring jurisdictions.
"It is very saddening indeed that Clonmel Chamber of Commerce puts cash before compassion and is happy to see money being generated for the town from animal cruelty," we said.
Some of the victims of coursing brought to the attention of Clonmel Chamber are: a hare suffering with "a badly broken hind leg", a hare with "a damaged hind toe", a coursed hare with a "badly broken hind leg [which] seemed to be in great distress" and a hare in agony in a coursing enclosure with its leg "almost completely broken off".
We have invited Clonmel Chamber to view our campaign video at youtube.com/icabs and also our image gallery at flickr.com/photos/icabs
ACTION ALERT
Urge Clonmel Chamber of Commerce to stop publicising cruel coursing on its website and in its marketing material.
Brian Cleary, Chief Executive Officer
Send an email to Brian Cleary and Tina Mulhearne
14. IFA asked to clarify its stance on bloodsports
The President of the Irish Farmers Association has been urged to clarify its stance on blood sports. The call comes following a claim that the IFA's Vice President has "given his organisation's support" to a pro-blood sports campaign.
In a 9th April 2010 statement headed "Pro-hunting campaign welcomes farming support", the Rise group claimed that "Vice President of the Irish Farmers' Association, Eddie Downey, has given his organisation's support to the campaign. Mr Downey said the campaign to defend hunting and other traditional rural sports was an integral part of the wider battle to defend rural Ireland on issues like cutbacks in farmers' REPS payments and restrictions on turf cutting."
In a letter to the IFA President, ICABS highlighted the appalling cruelty involved in blood sports and the fact that a majority of Irish people are opposed to these activities.
"It is highly inappropriate for the national farming organisation (which depends on this very majority to purchase its members' produce) to come out in support of animal cruelty," we stated. "Surely the defence of any form of hunting is not official IFA policy. As you are no doubt aware, the majority of farmers want nothing to do with hunts due to fears about disease spread, the disturbance of farm animals and damage to pastures and field boundaries."
Quoted in the Irish Times of May 4, 2010, a spokesman for the IFA denied that they have links with the Rise group. "They are a separate organisation," he said. "The IFA is a very separate organisation."
In the same article, Socialist MEP Joe Higgins called on the IFA and the ICMSA to "carefully consider" whether they supported the hunt because farming organisations depended on "millions of us buying their produce".
ACTION ALERT
Ask the IFA to clarify its position on blood sports. Point out that you are one of the majority of Irish citizens opposed to animal cruelty. List the goods you purchase which are produced on Irish farms.
Mr John Bryan
15. Milk group's pro-hunt position is criticised
ICABS has expressed disgust to the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association after its president referred to carted deerhunting as a "humane country activity".
Jackie Cahill also claimed that the ban on the Ward Union is "unwanted, uncalled for, unfair and unprecedented in terms of the bias it represents against traditional country pursuits".
An IFA statement in April outlined that "the president of the country's second largest farmers' organisation has given his association's full support to the RISE [pro-blood sports] campaign against the Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2010", adding that "it is simply not acceptable to have perfectly legitimate pastimes banned."
In a letter to the ICMSA president and General Secretary, ICABS highlighted the suffering caused to animals by blood sports groups.
ACTION ALERT
Jackie Cahill, President
16. "What could possibly be wrong with hunting?"
During a Dail debate on the Wildlife Amendment Bill, Westmeath TD Mary O'Rourke asked "What could possibly be wrong with hunting?"
ICABS has written to Deputy O'Rourke to remind her how hunting is cruel from beginning to end - from the moment foxes are chased out of their habitats to the point when they are knocked off their feet and disembowelled.
In our letter to the Fianna Fail TD, we highlighted that a majority in Ireland are compassionate, decent people who abhor cruelty to animals. We pointed out exactly what's wrong with hunting:
"Subjecting a frightened fox to the ordeal of being chased for hours by a pack of hounds is wrong. Digging foxes out of the ground and sending vicious terriers after them when they try to find shelter is wrong. Also wrong is pursuing foxes to exhaustion and relishing the sight of the terrorised animals being knocked off their feet and bitten and disembowelled."
Deputy O'Rourke voted in favour of the passed Wildlife Amendment Bill to ban staghunting but she declared in the Dail that she would "not entertain...any further inroads into rural pursuits".
ICABS has asked her to recognise the cruelty of all hunting and to push for bans on foxhunting, hare hunting, hare coursing and mink hunting.
"We will not entertain it and we will not have it," she said. "I want to know exactly what could possibly be wrong with fishing, hunting or with the gun clubs whose members have approached me...the Minister will have to give a guarantee on the floor of the House that this Bill and the Bill to be taken next week...will be the end of his ramblings in rural Ireland."
ACTION ALERT
Please join us in urging Deputy O'Rourke to support efforts to ban the cruel blood sports of foxhunting, hare coursing, hare hunting and mink hunting.
Mary O'Rourke, TD
17. Clonmel Park Hotel: Stop publicising coursing
ICABS has renewed its appeal to the Clonmel Park Conference, Leisure & Spa Hotel in County Tipperary to stop publicising hare coursing. On its website, the hotel presents the local coursing cruelty festival as a "sporting event".
The hotel has previously been urged to disassociate from coursing. In an advert placed in the events booklet for the 2008 coursing finals, the hotel extended a "welcome to all visitors to the national coursing meeting". The advert also highlighted that the hotel is "just 5 minutes drive from the coursing grounds" and that a coursing video was to be shown nightly at the hotel.
ACTION ALERT
Appeal to the hotel to stop publicising coursing on its website.
Clonmel Park Conference, Leisure & Spa Hotel
18. Ask Wildlife Service to remove hunting links
The National Parks and Wildlife Service has been asked by ICABS to remove links to hunting licence forms from the homepage of its website www.npws.ie
The links are to application forms for "Hunting Fauna in State-Owned Foreshore" and "Capture/Kill Protected Wild Animals for Educational or Scientific Purposes".
In our correspondence to the body, we commented that the links act as an advert for hunting and killing and possibly as an encouragement to apply.
"Given that the NPWS's primary role is to conserve wildlife and to engender in the public a respect for fauna, we believe it is inappropriate for links relating to the hunting, capturing and killing of animals to be on permanent, prominent display on the front page of your site," we stated.
ACTION ALERT
Ask the NPWS to stop prominently presenting links to hunting forms on its homepage.
National Parks & Wildlife Service
19. Urge MEPs to stop bull abuse subsidies
According to a Daily Mail newspaper report, the European Union spends £37 million a year subsidising the bullfighting industry.
Since the subsidy scheme was introduced in 2005, it has reportedly spent £185 million supporting blood fiestas and bullfighting. By the end of 2010, the total is expected to jump to nearly a quarter of a billion.
Who's paying for all this? European taxpayers, including the majority who are opposed to bullfighting barbarity.
The EU ploughs tens of millions of pounds into the towns that host animal cruelty spectacles and has even funded the renovation of bullrings, the Mail report reveals.
Some MEPs are now campaigning to have bullfighting officially recognised as part of Europe’s cultural heritage.
Please join international efforts to ask the European Parliament to reject attempts to classify cruelty as culture. Get in touch with all Irish MEPs now and ask them to work to bring to an end the subsidisation of bullfighting and blood fiestas.
Click Here to send an email to all of Ireland's MEPs.
Please make a donation to ICABS
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports relies entirely on your generosity to continue our campaigning for an end to blood sport cruelty. Please become a supporter of our work today - click on Shop at www.banbloodsports.com for more details or send a cheque to ICABS, PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Ireland. Thank you very much.
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Campaign newsletter of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports
02. Ask Minister Gormley to halt hare coursing
03. Clergy & Coursing - Ask Catholic Church authorities to act now
04. Ask Fine Gael to modernise its animal welfare policies
05. Department urged to scrap squirrel shoot sponsorship
06. Help us get cruel bird traps banned
07. Thank Green Party for staghunt ban success
08. Thank all TDs who voted for ban
09. Complain to Labour for voting against hunt ban
10. The Labour Party's U-turn TDs
11. Disappointment at latest NPWS coursing recommendation
12. Complaint against Coast's hare coursing content
13. Clonmel Chamber asked to Stop Promoting Coursing
14. IFA asked to clarify its stance on bloodsports
15. Milk group's pro-hunt position is criticised
16. "What could possibly be wrong with hunting?"
17. Clonmel Park Hotel: Stop publicising coursing
18. Ask Wildlife Service to remove hunting links
19. Urge MEPs to stop bull abuse subsidies
Last year, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports thanked Wexford-based classified ads website Donedeal for updating its dogs policy and promising to prevent ads for blood sports dogs from appearing on its website. Sadly, ads for dogs used in hunting, baiting, digging-out and terrierwork have continued to be displayed on the website.
Update: ICABS held a positive meeting with Donedeal in November and we are hopeful that ads for dogs used in blood sports will be reduced and eliminated thanks to a strengthening of the company's dog policy coupled with ad filtering. We thank Donedeal for their positive approach.
Donedeal
Unit B, Tuskar House,
Johns Gate Street, Wexford
Email: hello@donedeal.ie
Website: www.donedeal.ie
Department of the Environment, Custom House, Dublin 1.
Email: minister@environ.ie
[CC taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie - An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen]
Tel: 01 888 2403. Fax: 01 878 8640.
Diocesan Administrator
Bishop's House, Carlow
Email: brendan.byrne@kandle.ie
Tel +353 59 9176725
Fax +353 59 9176850
Columba Centre
Maynooth
Co. Kildare
Tel: +353 (0)1 505 3000
Fax: +353 (0)1 601 6401
Email: columbacentre@iecon.ie
Tullamoy, Stradbally, Co. Laois.
Email: danielgdunne@mymeteor.ie
Tel: 059-8627123
Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2
00 353 (0)1 618 4502 [Enda Kenny]
00 353 (0)1 662 5046 [Fine Gael Head Office]
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Tel: 01-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
Custom House, Dublin 1.
Email minister@environ.ie [with a copy to An Taoiseach]
Tel: 01 888 2403. Fax: 01 878 8640.
The Green Party: 16/17 Suffolk Street, Dublin 2
Tel: +353 (0)1 6790012, Email: info@greenparty.ie
Email: Labour Party TDs Who Voted Against Staghunt Ban
17 Ely Place, Dublin 2.
Tel: +353 1 6784700
Director, NPWS Species Protection Unit
National Parks & Wildlife Service
7 Ely Place
Dublin 2
Fax: +353-1-888 3272
CC: gerry.leckey@environ.ie, minister@environ.ie
Tina Mulhearne, President
Clonmel Chamber of Commerce
8 Sarsfield Street, Clonmel, Tipperary
Tel: 052 61 26500. Fax: 052 61 26378.
brian.cleary@clonmelchamber.com,tina@hrdirect.ie
President, The Irish Farmers Association,
Irish Farm Centre, Bluebell, Dublin 12.
Email: president@ifa.ie;postmaster@ifa.ie
Ciaran Dolan, General Secretary
ICMSA Head Office
John Feely House
Dublin Road, Limerick
Tel: +353 (0)61 314532 / 314677
Fax: +353 (0)61 315737
Email: info@icmsa.ie
Email: mary.orourke@Oireachtas.ie
Tel: 01-618 3860 or 090 -64-72313
Mobile 087-2802806
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary
Tel: +353 52 6188700
Email: info@clonmelparkhotel.com
7 Ely Place, Dublin 2, 7 Ely Place, Dublin 2
Email: natureconservation@environ.ie
(Please copy your message to Environment Minister John Gormley - minister@environ.ie)
Tel: 01-8882000. LoCall 1890-202 021. Fax: 01-8883272.
(Copy your message to Minister John Gormley - minister@environ.ie)
Tel: 01-8882000.
[proinsias.derossa@europarl.europa.eu,joe.higgins@europarl.europa.eu,gay.mitchell@europarl.europa.eu,liam.aylward@europarl.europa.eu,mairead.mcguinness@europarl.europa.eu,nessa.childers@europarl.europa.eu,sean.kelly@europarl.europa.eu,brian.crowley@europarl.europa.eu,alan.kelly@europarl.europa.eu,marian.harkin@europarl.europa.eu,jim.higgins@europarl.europa.eu,patthecope.gallagher@europarl.europa.eu]
Visit http://dublin.adagio4.eu/preview/en/irish_meps.html for more info on MEPs.
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