Urge Minister Deenihan to refuse hare coursing licence

Urge Minister Jimmy Deenihan to refuse hare coursing licence
26 July 2013

The Irish Coursing Club has applied for a licence to capture and course thousands of hares for a 2013-14 season. Please join us now in urging Minister Jimmy Deenihan to refuse this licence.

To find out more about the cruelty of coursing, visit our Ban Coursing Campaign Page
Read our Coursing Cruelty Catalogue 2012-13 to learn about the victims of coursing from last season.

ACTION ALERT

Contact Minister Deenihan now and urge him to refuse the coursing licence.

Jimmy Deenihan, TD
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
23 Kildare Street
Dublin 2

Email: jimmy.deenihan@oireachtas.ie
[with a copy to An Taoiseach - taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie and the NPWS Licensing Unit - wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie]
Tel: (01) 631 3804
Fax: (01) 661 1201

Constituency Details
18A The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry
Telephone: 068-57446
Fax: 068-57805

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below. Be assertive, but polite, in all correspondence. Thank you.)

Dear Minister Deenihan,
I am one of the majority of Irish citizens who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to urge you to refuse a licence to the Irish Coursing Club.
In coursing, hares suffer and die at all stages - during the capture, during the time they are kept in captivity and during the coursing meetings where they run for their lives in front of greyhounds. Among the injuries recorded are broken legs, damaged toes and dislocated hips.
I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and refuse to licence this cruelty.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Location]

Forward a copy of your correspondence to your local TDs:
Find out the name of your TDs and their email addresses.

Write to your TDs at:
Dáil Éireann
Leinster House
Kildare Street
Dublin 2.

More ICABS Videos

NPWS urged to block hare coursing licence
20 July 2011

ICABS is urging the National Parks and Wildlife Service to block a coursing licence which would result in the capture of thousands of Irish hares and cause a massive interference to the species. Pointing to the NPWS's conservation role, we stated that it would be very appropriate for them to move to end the licensing of the blood sport.

"Every effort should be made to promote conservation and eliminate threats to the species," we told NPWS Licensing Unit Director, Ciaran O'Keeffe. Highlighted was the "Status of EU Protected Habitats and Species in Ireland" report which states clearly that the status of the hare species is "poor" and that "factors likely to reduce hare numbers locally include...hunting."

Also flagged to Dr O'Keeffe was a statement in a NPWS document which casts uncertainty over the "reproductive viability of hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hare removal and return". (Background to the conservation assessment for the Mountain Hare Lepus timidus)

"The stress and related capture myopathy caused by coursing activities compromise the welfare of hares and their subsequent chances of survival," we stated. "This alone should compel the NPWS to ensure that the licence is refused and the species is protected."

ACTION ALERT

Please join us in urging the NPWS Licensing Unit to move now to block the coursing licence.

Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe
Director, NPWS Licensing Unit
National Parks & Wildlife Service
7 Ely Place
Dublin 2

Tel: +353-1-888 2000
Fax: +353-1-888 3272

Email: ciaran.o'keeffe@environ.ie
CC: Feargal.O'Coigligh@environ.ie;ministersoffice@tcs.gov.ie;taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below. Be assertive, but polite, in all correspondence. Thank you.)

Dear Dr O'Keeffe,
The NPWS's primary role is to conserve wildlife, including the Irish Hare species. I urge you, therefore, to urgently move to block any further licence for the bloodsport of coursing, an activity which represents a threat to the species.
As the NPWS has previously acknowledged, the conservation status of the hare species is considered poor and factors responsible for this include hunting. The NPWS has also noted that there is uncertainty over the 'reproductive viability of hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hare removal and return'.
Coursing licences result in thousands of hares being frightened out of their habitats into nets. The creatures are kept in captivity for months, fed an unnatural diet, trained to run up fields, transported in crates and forced to run for their lives in front of greyhounds. The NPWS has recorded hare deaths at all stages of coursing, including after they are released back into the wild.
The NPWS is entrusted to conserve the hare species and I believe it is very appropriate for you to act to prevent the continuation of coursing and recommend that full, permanent protection is granted to the threatened hare species.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
[Name/Location]

Ireland's coursing is "cruel", "sick", "horrible", "vile"
15 July 2011

Hare coursing is not only opposed by a majority in Ireland but also by compassionate people all around the world. On the Care2 website, they have been condemning the blood sport as vile and cruel and expressing support for a ban.

In a renewed appeal to Minister Jimmy Deenihan to refuse another licence for coursing, ICABS has highlighted how coursing brings shame on Ireland. Please respond to our urgent action alert now and demand an end to coursing. Thank you.

You can read some of the comments from around the world below...

Very cruel sport - Maria, Athens, Greece

How sick!!!!! - Maria, USA

This is a vile 'sport'. Should definitely be banned - Tracey, Edinburgh

I've owned wolfhounds and competed in coursing events, but never with live lure...to catch live prey is no longer a necessity...and should be outlawed - Ellen, USA

This is horrible - Jen, Canada

This is sick and should be banned - Mary, USA

Another so called sport. How can anyone be entertained by the inflicted cruelty on another sentient being? - Esther, USA

Disgusting, it makes me sick!! - Valerie, Paris

This is not a sport, this is plain CRUELTY!! - Ruth, Florida

Absolutely terrible. This is not a sport or a means of entertainment by any stretch of the imagination - Meg, Texas

Sounds horrible - Masha, London

It is horrific what people think up for entertainment - Susan, Canada

This is just so horrible - Sally, Melbourne, Australia

Disgusting. How can people find pleasure in the death of innocent animals who have done no wrong? - Cristina, New Zealand

How low can people go? - Julie, South Africa

Anyone who would participate in this VILE display of animal abuse...needs intensive psychiatric counsel - Valerie, Canada

I hate you people that get your kicks from the torture and death of animals - Leanne, Canada

A practice such as this, universally categorized as a blood sport, should be fastidiously rallied against on all fronts - Christina, USA

This is not a sport - it is entertainment for morons! - Wendy, UK

Sad to think that in this day and age that this can be considered "sport" obviously evolution has been dealt a setback - Mike, Virginia

This is terrible cruelty to the poor Hares. It needs to be stopped with immediate effect - Sameera, Sri Lanka

"It would not bother me whether coursing was banned or not": Deenihan
30 June 2011

A letter written by Minister Jimmy Deenihan twenty years ago reveals his view that "it would not bother me whether coursing was banned or not." ICABS has reminded Minister Deenihan of his statement as part of an appeal to him to reject a current licence application from the Irish Coursing Club.

In his letter, sent to an animal welfare group in Hawaii, he states: "On a personal basis, I have very little interest in coursing. On a personal basis, it would not bother me whether coursing was banned or not."

He went on to tell the correspondent that "the coursing fraternity in this country are very concerned about the future of the sport" and that "many Catholic clergy are involved in hare coursing."

In an email to Minister Deenihan this week, ICABS said that if he remained unbothered about the banning of the bloodsport, he had an ideal opportunity now to act on the wishes of the majority and refuse the coursing licence.

Extract from Jimmy Deenihan, TD's letter to an animal welfare group in Hawaii.

ACTION ALERT

Please join us in our appeal to Minister Deenihan to act on the wishes of the majority and refuse the coursing licence.

Jimmy Deenihan, TD
Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs
Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
23 Kildare Street
Dublin 2

Email: ministersoffice@tcs.gov.ie
[with a copy to An Taoiseach]
Tel: (01) 631 3802
Fax: (01) 661 1201

Maureen O'Sullivan, TD asks Minister to refuse coursing licence
29 June 2011

In a Dail question, Maureen O'Sullivan TD has asked Minister Jimmy Deenihan to refuse a licence to the Irish Coursing Club for the 2011-12 season.

Parliamentary Questions and Answers

Question 207 - Answered on 21 June 2011

Maureen O'Sullivan, TD: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will consider refusing this year’s application from a club (details supplied) for a licence to net hares for the 2011 to 2012 season of enclosed hare coursing or to at least add a number of new conditions to the licence that will eliminate much of the unnecessary suffering to which hares are subjected during the netting phase of the coursing process.

Written Answer. Ref No: 16193/11

Jimmy Deenihan (Minister, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht; Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael): My Department has received an application under the Wildlife Acts from the organisation in question on behalf of its affiliated clubs to facilitate the tagging and the capture of hares in relation to the holding of coursing meetings for the coming 2011/2012 season. The application is under consideration and a decision will be made as soon as possible

Deenihan should consider heroics of Byrne before granting licences
13 July 2011

As he considers an application for a coursing cruelty licence, Minister Jimmy Deenihan should consider the compassion and bravery of the homeless man who jumped into the River Liffey to rescue a rabbit. Read the letter in today's Irish Independent.

Deenihan should consider heroics of Byrne before granting hare licences
Irish Independent, July 13 2011

Many of us have been moved by the heroism of John Byrne, the homeless man who jumped into the Liffey to save his pet rabbit. Equally, I'm sure the majority of us abhor the act of the young man who threw the animal in.

I can't help but reflect on the contrast between the decency and compassion of Mr Byrne and the plans being laid by over 70 coursing clubs right now for another season of hare baiting.

The Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has to decide whether to grant a licence permitting these clubs. I hope Jimmy Deenihan reflects on Mr Byrne's actions, as he can withhold these licences without getting his feet wet.

John Fitzgerald
Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports

More information about hare coursing

Coursing: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition

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