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New mp4 campaign video - Download now!
17 October 2007 Use your mp4 player (or video-enabled mp3 player) to help expose the Ward Union deer hunt's abusive treatment of deer. Download our new 30 second video on to your player and play it to your friends, neighbours and workmates. Ask them to join the call on Minister Gormley to ban this deplorable blood sport. Encourage them to send a protest email to the Minister at minister@environ.ie or phone in a message of support for a ban to his office on 01 888 2403. Thank you.
Ban the Ward Union Deer Hunt - mp4 video
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About the Ward Union
Dozens of men and women on horseback, a pack of 40 howling hounds and
one defenceless deer. That's the Ward Union hunt's revolting recipe for
"sport".
For over 150 years, this widely condemned group have been getting their
kicks from abusing animals. Deer, with their antlers cut off, are driven
from the hunt's private deer park in a livestock cart and set up as
quarry. According to Department of Agriculture records, some deer are
aware of the terror that lays ahead, with one observed showing "body
tremors, excessive salivation and panting".
The disorientated animal gets a ten minute head start into the
countryside of Meath or North County Dublin before finding the heartless
Ward Union cavalry and their hounds closing in from behind.
The creature frantically tries to stay ahead but being in unfamiliar
territory, the route is hazardous. Its tongue hangs out and sweat sprays
from its body as it crashes through hedges, over walls, across busy
public roads and even down village streets. It's a gruelling ordeal
which can last for up to three hours and result in cuts, bruises, bites,
lameness and exhaustion.
Veterinary documents, obtained by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports
under the Freedom of Information Act, have also exposed some of the
inevitable fatalities. There was a deer which died of fractured ribs,
two deer which died from ruptured aortic aneurisms, a deer which drowned
in a quarry and a deer which dropped dead after desperately trying to
escape over an 8ft wall.
When the unfortunate animal becomes so depleted that it can run no more,
hunt members move in to tackle it to the ground. On at least one
occasion this merciless move has led to a deer being "accidentally
choked" to death. Dragged along to the hunt cart and returned to the
deer park, the deer used will await a future hunt outing when they will
again have to endure this appalling abuse.
For far too long, the Ward Union have been flouting the Protection of
Animals Act which clearly makes it is an offence to terrorise or cause
unnecessary suffering. Their cowardly hunt may have been acceptable in
the 1800s but there's no place for it in a modern Ireland where the vast
majority of people abhor animal cruelty. All of us eagerly await
Minister John Gormley's historic decision to banish this blood sport
back into the past where it belongs. (Philip Kiernan, ICABS)
ACTION ALERT 1
Please contact Environment Minister, John Gormley, and appeal to him to stop carted deer hunt cruelty by firmly refusing a licence to the Ward Union.
Sample Letter
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
Dear Minister Gormley,
I appeal to you to please refuse a licence to the Ward Union hunt. Having been slammed by animal welfare groups, farmers, landowners, motorists, parents, householders and even hunters, the Ward Union must be one of the most widely condemned hunts in the world.
Refusing the Ward Union a licence will be welcomed by a huge cross-section of people across Ireland and the world.
Thank you, Minister. I look forward to your positive response on this issue.
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:
For a list of Senators, please visit the
Irish Government website
Contact your Senator at:
More information about carted deer hunting
Carted deer hunting: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition
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