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Hare coursers back on Galway Bay's Island Eddy
06 June 2014
Documents obtained by ICABS under the Freedom of Information Act show that a coursing club has been back to interfere with the hare population on a small, uninhabited Galway Bay Island.
The documents show that on 8th November last, a member of Galway and Oranmore coursing club, accompanied by a National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger, landed on Island Eddy following a hare coursing meeting and deposited a total of 16 hares there. It is unclear if these particular hares had previously been taken from the island (as has happened ahead of past coursing seasons) but according to the conditions of the licence granted to coursers, "the same numbers of hares must be released back into the wild at the same locations from which such numbers were captured, unless otherwise agreed beforehand with the relevant National Parks and Wildlife Service staff".
A National Parks ranger indicates in the documents that hares were "released in the same location that they were captured", adding that "we are dependent on info from coursing club as to where they captured the hares."
The records show that the 16 Island Eddy hares were among a total of 83 netted for Galway and Oranmore's coursing meet on 6th and 7th November 2013. At this meet, five hares were hit by greyhounds and two hares were pinned to the ground as they tried to escape.
This is the latest instance of coursers coming on to idyllic Island Eddy. Previously, Galway and Oranmore coursing club removed 12 hares from the island for a coursing meeting at which five hares were struck and one died.
ICABS is renewing its call on Galway politicians to intervene to protect the hares. "Hares are a much loved part of Galway's wildlife heritage and the Galway Bay hares should be allowed to live in peace, free from persecution," we stated.
Midwest Radio highlights the plight of the Island Eddy hares
Connacht Tribune highlights persecution of Island Eddy hares
Coursing enthusiasts snare hares on Galway Bay island
Connacht Tribune, 5 June 2014, by Ciaran Tierney
Animal rights campaigners are claiming that the wild hare population of a small island on the eastern shores of Galway Bay could be decimated by coursing enthusiasts who snare them for events on the mainland.
The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (CACS) has expressed concern this week after discovering that Island Eddy, near Ballinderreen, was used as a location to snare 16 hares over the past live coursing season.
A report by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers, obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, shows that 16 were conveyed to the island following a coursing meeting last November.
Surviving hares are normally returned to where they were captured following a coursing event, leading CACS to believe that they had all been snared on the island.
The report obtained under FOI comes four years after the members of a coursing club gave an undertaking to cease capturing the wild animals on Island Eddy.
“We believe that this use of Island Eddy to promote hare coursing could damage the attraction of Galway Bay itself, renowned as it is in song and story, and feted worldwide as one of Ireland’s key tourist destinations,” said John Fitzgerald of CACS.
Mr Fitzgerald said the coursing enthusiasts visited the uninhabited island on boats in order to capture the animals for coursing events from September to February.
“Not content to allow these gentle creatures live out their short, humble, inoffensive lives in peace, the coursers have gone to the island in their boats and captured the hares with nets. The animals were then used at coursing events, where they were chased and terrorised for ‘sport’,” he said.
http://connachttribune.ie/coursing-enthusiasts-snare-hares-galway-bay-island/
ACTION ALERTS
Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign a petition:
Minister Coveney: Save Irish hares from cruel coursing
Ban horrific Hare Coursing Cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Protect the Irish Hare
Appeal to the Minister for Agriculture
Please appeal to the Minister for Agriculture to remove an exemption for hare coursing from the Animal Health and Welfare Act.
Simon Coveney, TD
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie
Tel: 01-607 2884 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: 01-661 1013.
Urgently contact An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and An Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore. Ask them to ban hare coursing and give permanent protection to hares.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street,
Dublin 2
Telephone: 01-6194020
Fax: 01-6764048
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
An Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore
Office of the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Iveagh House,
80 St. Stephen’s Green,
Dublin 2.
Tel: 01 6183566 (Dail)
Tel: 01 408 2000 (Iveagh House)
Fax: 01 408 2400
Email: eamon.gilmore@oireachtas.ie
Contact Minister Deenihan now and urge him to stop licensing hare coursing.
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]
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.)
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Dear Minister Deenihan,
I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to urge you tostop licensing hare coursing. 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 stop licensing this deplorable cruelty. Thank you. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] |
Contact all your local TDs now. Demand that they urgently push for a ban on hare coursing and all bloodsports. Tell them you are one of the majority who want coursing banned. Remind them that coursing is already illegal in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. Urge them to respect the wishes of the majority of the electorate and back a ban.
Find out their contact details
Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.
Save the Island Eddy Hares
23 September 2011
In past years, coursers have landed on Galway Bay's Island Eddy, netted the resident hares and used them as live bait for coursing greyhounds on the mainland.
In 2009, for example, Galway and Oranmore coursing club removed 12 hares from the island. At their subsequent coursing meeting, five hares were struck and one died.
ICABS has urged Galway politicians to intervene to protect the hares. "Hares form a much loved part of Galway's wildlife heritage and should be protected from animal cruelty," we stated.
This year, with a hare netting licence issued by Minister Jimmy Deenihan, the hares on Island Eddy are again at risk of being snatched from their habitat and forced to run for their lives. Please support our campaign to save them from this fate.
Ask Minister Deenihan to show compassion for the Island Eddy hares, and the hare population as a whole, and stop licensing hare coursing.
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 - taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie]
Tel: +353 (0)1 631 3802
Fax: +353 (0)1 661 1201
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter.)
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Dear Minister,
I am greatly saddened to learn that among the victims of coursing in Ireland are hares that live a peaceful existence on some of our off-shore islands. Coursers land on these wildlife havens, mercilessly net the resident hares and take them back to the mainland to use as live lures. Minister, please intervene to protect the Island Eddy hares and all hares that will be subjected to coursing cruelty in the coming weeks and months. As you are aware, a humane alternative exists in the form of drag coursing in which the hares are replaced by a plastic lure. This is practised successfully in England, Australia and the USA. There is absolutely no reason why Ireland should allow the shameful practice of hare coursing to continue. Please show compassion for the Island Eddy hares, and the hare population as a whole, and end coursing. Thank you. I look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] |
To find out more about the cruelty of coursing, visit our Ban Coursing Campaign Page
The victims of coursing
All hares used in coursing are victims and they all suffer the fear and stress of being violently snatched from their habitats, thrown into crates, transported to coursing compounds and kept in captivity for months. Among the hare injuries and deaths recorded are:
Make a donation to ICABS
Please consider making a small donation to ICABS. For more details, please click on the button below or follow this link to find out how to become a campaign supporter. Thank you.
