Paddy Power asked to disassociate from blood sport 20 January 2006 The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has urged the Paddy Power company to disassociate from hare coursing after learning that their website is currently accepting bets on the blood sport. The company has been told that hares continue to suffer and die during coursing. ICABS has also invited company management to view video footage on our website which shows hares being battered into the ground by coursing greyhounds. "According to official statistics from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, not a coursing season goes by without hares being injured and killed," we stated, "Coursing is inherently cruel from beginning to end and the act of snatching defenceless hares from their natural habitat for use as lures before dogs is utterly and indefensibly cruel." Also highlighted to the Tallaght-based company was that coursing is now illegal in England, Scotland and Wales, has been stopped in Northern Ireland and is opposed by an 80 per cent majority of people in the Republic of Ireland. Our hope is that Paddy Power will show compassion for the Irish Hare and stop associating with an activity which subjects this timid and fragile creature to blood sport abuse. Action Item Please contact Paddy Power and ask them to stop accepting bets on coursing. Tell them that it is very disappointing that they are associating with a form of animal cruelty which 80 per cent of Irish people want outlawed. Sample Letter (Please compose your own personal letter if possible. If you do not have time to do this, please send the short sample letter below. Be assertive, but polite, in all correspondence. Thank you.) Mr Patrick Kennedy CEO, Paddy Power plc Airton House Airton Road Tallaght Dublin 24, Ireland. Tel: +353 (0)1 4045912 Fax: +353 (0)1 4045901 Email: info@paddypowerplc.com Dear Mr Kennedy, I am writing to appeal to you as CEO of Paddy Power Plc to act to disassociate your company from the blood sport of live hare coursing. I find it disappointing that Paddy Power is one of the very last remaining companies which choose to have anything to do with this cruel activity. I call on Paddy Power plc to please stop accepting bets on hare coursing and to remove coursing content from your website. I make this appeal as one of the 80 per cent majority of Irish people who want our government to follow the example of England, Scotland and Wales and ban this barbaric activity. I very much hope that your company can show compassion and disassociate from coursing and I look forward to hearing from you in this regard. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Name/Location Photos: Coursing Cruelty A courser looks on as a pair of hares run along the inside of a coursing enclosure. Thousands of Irish hares are incarcerated like this by coursing clubs every year. Greyhounds chase a hare during a coursing meeting. The stress of running for their lives leaves hares vulnerable to the potentially fatal capture myopathy condition. (Photo: Tomas Coppinger) A greyhound hits a hare head-first into the ground during a coursing meeting. Hares hit in this way can suffer broken bones and fatal internal injuries. A courser holds a dead hare by its back legs. Every coursing season sees hares being killed by greyhounds. Hares kept captive in a coursing field. After being snatched from the wild, hares are kept in captivity for up to two months before the start of the coursing meeting. Coursing: More Information Photo: Captive hares in coursing enclosure - 18 November 2005 Coursing fixtures list revealed - 13 October 2005 Coursers get licence for 2005-06 season - 14 September 2005 Is Ireland in breach of EU Habitats Directive? - 07 July 2005 Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, has questioned the Environment Minister about the possibility of Ireland being in breach of the EU Habitats Directive by allowing hare coursing. Hares and Rabbits Fact Sheet - 24 June 2005 Hares and rabbits have an important place in Ireland's biodiversity. Learn all about these fascinating mammals in a new fact sheet by Mike Rendle of the Irish Hare Initiative. Animal Voice - June 2005 Special edition focusing entirely on the plight of the Irish Hare. Read on to find out about the growing concern for this "threatened" and "declining" species. Plus a selection of disturbing reports from hare coursing meetings. The Impact of Enclosed Hare Coursing on Irish hares - 28 April 2005 A report by the Irish Hare Initiative Species Action Plan - 31 March 2005 The draft version of the Species Action Plan for the Irish Hare. National Survey of Hares Tender Specification and additional details Stress and Capture Myopathy in Hares - 28 January 2005 A report by the Irish Hare Initiative Coursing: Photos and Video For photos and video clips showing the cruelty of coursing, please visit our Ban Hare Coursing website. News Menu | Join | Top | Home