Minister Gormley implored to end hare coursing 22 August 2007 ICABS has implored Environment Minister, John Gormley, to reject an application from the Irish Coursing Club to net hares from the wild for use in coursing. In this latest plea to the Minister, Campaign Director, Aideen Yourell, once again highlighted the terror, injury and death suffered by hares. In a passionate appeal to the Green Party Minister, she pointed to the hares which are directly killed on coursing fields, those which have to be put down as a result of their injuries and the others which are terrorised from the moment they are snatched from wild and forced into captivity The Minister was presented with several examples of hares suffering including: A coursed hare in Roscommon found by a National Parks ranger with a "badly broken hind leg [which] seemed to be in great distress" Six hares badly mauled by dogs in Tubbercurry and A hare in agony in a Westmeath coursing enclosure with its leg "almost completely broken off". "This cruelty is part and parcel of coursing, and cannot be prevented or mitigated as long as the coursers are allowed to take hares from the wild and use them as live lures before greyhounds," Aideen stated. "Even if hares are not struck and mauled by the dogs, they are terrorised. Hares can die of stress related syndromes, and this was highlighted when 40 hares died following a coursing meeting in New Ross. A vet determined that stress was the cause and that 'hares being normally solitary animals are significantly stressed when corralled and coursed.'" "We earnestly entreat you therefore not to grant a licence to the Irish Coursing Club to net hares from the wild for use as live lures," she concluded. A hare is mauled into the ground by a muzzled greyhound during a coursing meeting. This is one of the thousands of hares cruelly captured in the Irish countryside every year for use in the blood sport. ACTION ALERT Please contact Environment Minister, John Gormley, and ask him to save the Irish Hare from the cruelty of coursing. 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.) Minister John Gormley Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Custom House, Dublin 1. Email: minister@environ.ie Tel: 01 888 2403. Fax: 01 878 8640. Dear Minister Gormley, I am writing to implore you to refuse a licence to the Irish Coursing Club. As long as coursing continues, the hare - one of Ireland's most gentle and timid of creatures - will suffer terror, injury and death. You have the power to put an end to this deplorable blood sport. As a Green Party Minister and as a compassionate human being, please refuse a licence and allow the Irish Hare to live free from the cruelty of coursing. Your decision to end hare coursing will be widely welcomed all will show the world that Ireland is a compassionate country whose wildlife heritage is valued and respected. Thank you. Yours sincerely, Name/Location Video: Hare coursing cruelty More information about hare coursing Coursing: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition News Menu | Join | Top | Home