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Revealed: The deerhunting licence granted by Minister John Gormley
16 October 2008
Despite strong appeals for the Ward Union deerhunt to be refused a licence, Green Party Environment Minister, John Gormley sadly gave the hunt the go-ahead last month. We can now reveal Minister Gormley's licence that allows this appalling blood sport to continue for yet another season. The licence allows the Ward Union to hound domesticated deer across the countryside of Counties Meath and Dublin between October 2008 and March 2009. Download a copy of the Licence and its 34 conditions The Irish Council Against Blood Sports expressed its great disappointment to Minister John Gormley after learning that he issued another licence to the hunt. Another season of cruelty lays ahead for the captive-bred, domesticated deer used by this widely condemned hunt. The deer will be chased to exhaustion during a gruelling chase that puts the animals at risk of sustaining painful cuts, bruises and broken bones. Veterinary documents, obtained by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports under the Freedom of Information Act, have exposed some of the inevitable fatalities that occur during hunts. 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. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has always contended that this hunt is illegal and should never have been licensed under the Wildlife Act, because the deer hunted by the Ward Union are farmed deer, not wild animals, and therefore not subject to the Wildlife Act. This contention has been borne out in a legal opinion which concludes that the Ward Union hunt is "illegal" under the 1911 Protection of Animals Act, and that it shouldn't be licensed under the 1976 Wildlife Act -see Hunt is illegal, say eminent legal experts ACTION ALERT Express your disappointment to Minister Gormley at his decision to issue yet another licence to the Ward Union. Restate your opposition to cruel carted deer hunting and urge him to stop licensing this, and other, blood sports.
Minister John Gormley
Email: minister@environ.ie
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Minister Gormley: I am writing to express my huge disappointment at your decision to grant another licence to the Ward Union for carted deer hunting activities. The captive bred, domesticated deer used by the hunt are protected animals under the Protection of Animals Act and may not be legally hounded by hunters. As you are aware, it is contrary to existing legislation to licence the activities of this hunt. I urge you to honour your party's pre-election promise to ban blood sports and please revoke this licence which will lead to more deer suffering over the coming months. Thank you. I look forward to your reply. Yours sincerely, [*** Insert your name and location here ***] The licence's conditions Thirty four conditions are attached to this latest licence but none will eliminate the inevitable terror, fear and stress endured by the deer as they are chased by a pack of howling hounds. Neither will the conditions take away the exhaustion suffered by the deer or the risk of injury or death. As far as we are concerned, these conditions are merely window dressing and the Minister should have refused this licence outright. How they will be enforced is, to say the least, mind-boggling! Among the conditions are: "Once the hounds pick up the scent of the first deer, arrangements should be made for the cart containing the reserve deer to be returned to the deer park." (condition 11) "After the deer is released, it will be allowed to travel a distance of not less than 2 kilometres from the release point before the hounds are released. In the event that this cannot be confirmed, the hounds may not be released until 30 minutes after the release of the deer." (condition 12) "The hounds must be withdrawn to a distance of 150 metres should the deer stop moving or "lie in wait" or should the hounds encounter the deer at close quarters for any other reason" (condition 13) "The deer shall be recaptured only where and when there is no risk of injury to the deer. Deer at large shall be recaptured as soon as it is safe to do so. The use of tracking devices should be considered for this purpose." (condition 16) "Deer captured by whatever means should not be hunted again for at least 30 days" (condition 19) "The numbers on horseback to be limited to 50 per hunt except on St Stephens Day when a maximum of 80 on horseback is permitted. This is exclusive of hunt staff of between 6/10 people. The numbers on horseback joining a hunt unannounced shall not excess 5 people" (condition 20) "The Road Marshals, road whips and the field masters shall ensure that the hunt does not proceed towards unsuitable or hazardous locations such as schools, towns, villages and main roads. On these occasions, the hunt shall be either diverted or called off." (condition 21) "The hunt shall select release sites for the stag which are conducive to the stag being able to select a route allowing for the avoidance of unsuitable or hazardous locations such as schools, towns, villages and main roads." (condition 22) "The field masters and hunt staff shall stop the hunt and recall the hounds if the hunt cannot reasonably be expected to be conducted safely." (condition 23) "The day, time and location of each meet of the club shall be arranged to take into account the volume of traffic on public roads, peak traffic times and school collection times." (condition 26) "The hunt/club will arrange for experienced Road Marshals and Road Whips to control hounds and assist the hunt staff, field masters, mounted followers where crossing public roads to minimise disruption to road-users." (condition 27) "The hunt shall conduct its activities so as not to interfere with or inconvenience the general public, this includes parking of vehicles, horseboxes and riding on the roads." (condition 30) "Any substantial breach of this licence could lead to its revocation or non-renewal by the Minister having regard to the relevant circumstances." (condition 33) "A calendar of hunt meetings with the assembly points shall be submitted to the Minister in advance" (condition 34) Download a copy of the Licence and its 34 conditions
Video: Urge the Green party to ban blood sports
ICABS has expressed its disappointment to Minister John Gormley after learning that he has issued another licence to the Ward Union hunt. The licence came despite strong appeals for the hunt to be stopped from practising what is believed to be an unlawful activity under existing animal protection legislation.
We are currently awaiting details of the 34 conditions attached to the licence but it has to be acknowledged that no amount of conditions can alleviate the terror and stress of the animals.
We are aware of two licence conditions - the deer are to be given a 2km start before hounds are released, and the "hounds must not encounter the deer at close quarters and will be required to withdraw to a distance of 150 metres." How this will be enforced is, to say the least, mind-boggling! As far as we are concerned, these conditions are merely window dressing and the Minister should have refused this licence outright.
Our campaign against this cruel and illegal hunt continues.
Minister Gormley's statement on latest hunt licence
Mr John Gormley T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government stated today (12 September 2008) that he had notified the Ward Union Hunt of his decision to grant the Hunt a licence under the Wildlife Act, 1976 with a number of new conditions.
Section 26 of the Wildlife Act, 1976, provides that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government may issue a licence for the hunting of stags with a pack of stag hounds. The Minister has examined the Ward Union Hunt's licence application for the 2008/2009 season and he has decided to issue a licence to the Hunt subject to thirty four conditions.
In granting the licence for the forthcoming season, the Minister took account of the High Court settlement reached with the Ward Union Hunt earlier in the year relating to the conditions attached to the previous licence. The Minister also took into account the reports by officials of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of his Department who monitored last season's hunt meetings. The Minister was particularly concerned with the protection of the deer from undue stress and two new conditions have been included on the new licence to reflect his concerns in this regard.
The new conditions allow the deer to travel at least 2 kilometres before the hounds are released or if this cannot be confirmed the hounds may not be released until 30 minutes after the release of the deer. In addition, the hounds must not encounter the deer at close quarters and will be required to withdraw to a distance of 150 metres. These new conditions will still allow the hounds to pick up the scent of the deer but address concerns that the hounds should be kept well away from the deer.
The other new conditions on the licence relate to limiting the size of the hunt and public safety issues.
The Minister also said that officials of the National Parks and Wildlife Service of his Department will continue to monitor hunt meetings to ensure compliance with the conditions of the licence.
Videos: Carted deer hunting cruelty
More information about carted deer hunting
Carted deer hunting: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition
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