Hare suffering evidence presented to former Minister 14 September 2007 The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has presented evidence of coursing cruelty to former Environment Minister, Dick Roche. The hare suffering occurred during the 2006-07 coursing season following a licence issued by Mr Roche. "You will recall that last year, you issued a licence to the Irish Coursing Club to net hares from the wild for use as lures in coursing," ICABS stated in a letter to Minister of State Roche this week. "We wish to bring to your attention the instances below of suffering experienced by hares during the subsequent coursing meetings. These include hares squealing in distress with broken limbs." Among the disturbing incidents uncovered by ICABS in the latest National Parks and Wildlife Service reports and presented to Deputy Roche are: Hares being killed after being viciously mauled by greyhounds Hares suffering injuries so severe that they had to be put down A hare "squealing in distress" after being caught by a muzzled dog A hare suffering with "a badly broken hind leg" A hare "carrying a hind leg" A hare with "a damaged hind toe" ACTION ALERT 1 Please contact the current Environment Minister, John Gormley (Green Party), and appeal to him to reconsider his decision to licence hare coursing for the 2007-08 season. Also, urge him to stand firm against the Ward Union and refuse a licence for their abuse of deer. 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 express my great disappointment at your decision to licence hare coursing in Ireland. This licence not only disregards the awful animal cruelty of coursing but also the wishes of the majority of Irish adults who want this barbarism banned. I hope that you will find a way to urgently bring coursing to an end in Ireland. I understand that you will be considering the licensing of carted deer hunting in the coming weeks. I implore you to stand firm against the Ward Union and refuse this licence. In its pre-election manifesto, the Green Party pledged to ban blood sports when in government. You now have the opportunity to fulfil this promise and end the suffering of deer and hares. Yours sincerely, Name/Location ACTION ALERT 2 Please contact your local TD and Senator and ask them to make an appeal to Minister Gormley on your behalf. For the names of your TDs, please click on your county on the Irish Government website Contact your TD at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 337889 (1890 DEPUTY). For a list of Senators, please visit the Irish Government website Contact your Senator at: Seanad Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-618 3000 or 1890 732 623 (1890 SEANAD). Videos: The cruelty of hare coursing and carted deer hunting Hare coursing Carted deer hunting More information about blood sports Carted deer hunting: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition Coursing: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition Foxhunting: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition News Menu | Join | Top | Home