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ICABS Christmas appeal to landowners
18 December 2007 This Christmas, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports is making a special appeal to Irish farmers to make their land a cruelty-free zone. Highlighting the cruelty of hunting and the pain suffered by animals, we are asking all landowners to say no to their local hunt. We appeal to them to imagine the fear experienced by a fox as the baying hounds and hollering hunters inch closer; the distress it feels as its heart pounds in its chest and its internal organs start failing from the sheer exertion of the chase; the absolute agony it suffers when a terrier takes a bite out of its belly or hounds rip it to shreds. This is the kind of cruelty that will take place on St Stephens Day and week after week into 2008 unless landowners do the decent and compassionate thing and have the courage to say no to their local hunt. No animal deserves the horrendous fate of the foxes, mink and hares chased and violently killed by packs of hounds.
Video: The cruelty of foxhunting
ACTION ALERT 1 If you are a landowner, immediately make your land off limits to all hunts. If you have friends who are landowners, please tell them that they can make a difference by making their land a haven for wildlife. Please visit our Farmers Page and read our Troubled by the Hunt Leaflet for more information. Visit our No Hunting Signs page to print signs to display around the boundaries of your property. Thank you. ACTION ALERT 2 Urge the Minister for Agriculture to amend the Protection of Animals Act so that foxes, hares, mink and all wild creatures are protected from unnecessary cruelty.
Minister Mary Coughlan
Dear Minister Coughlan, I am writing to implore you to act to ban foxhunting and all blood sports in Ireland. Minister, foxhunting is cruel from beginning to end. The foxes suffer great stress and damage to internal organs during the gruelling cross-county chases. When they try to escape underground, terriers are sent after them to viciously attack them and drag them out into the open. The squealing, injured and terrified foxes are then mercilessly killed by a hunt terriermen. Other foxes will die a despicable death as they try to evade capture - they are violently knocked off their feet by the pack of hounds and eviscerated. Minister, I appeal to your sense of compassion to urgently intervene to save the fox from this barbarism. No living creature deserves the fate of foxes in foxhunting. The fox is one of Ireland's favourite wild creatures and is beneficial to farming interests by keeping down the numbers of mice, rats and rabbits which form part of its natural diet. I implore you to amend the Protection of Animals Act so that foxes, hares, mink and all wild creatures are protected from unnecessary cruelty. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] ACTION ALERT 3 Appeal to all Irish politicians Please join us in telling the Irish Government that it is now time to replace foxhunting with the humane alternative - drag hunting. Drag hunting sees the hounds chasing an artificial lure instead of a live animal. This form of "hunting" is already practised successfully by a few groups in Ireland. In a modern and civilised country like Ireland, there should be no place for foxhunting, particularly when a transition to drag hunting would be simple. We desperately need your help to convince the government that it is time to ban foxhunting. Please write to all of your local politicians and ask them to express their opposition to this blood sport. If possible, get your friends, family and workmates to contact them too. We need as much help with this campaign as possible.
Write to your TD at:
Write to your Senator at:
For the names and contact details of politicians, please visit the Irish Government Website. Video: Drag Hunting - The humane alternative
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