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Minister Coveney dismisses call to encourage drag coursing
04 December 2013
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has dismissed a call by Galway TD Sean Kyne to encourage drag coursing as an alternative to live hare coursing. The Minister claimed in a Dail reply that "the promotion of drag/lure coursing is an activity that falls outside my area of responsibility."
Minister Coveney - whose Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2013 included an exemption which paved the way for coursing to continue - made the outrageous claim in his response that "the Irish Coursing Club has an established system of regulation in place to underpin animal welfare standards in coursing". (See full text of Dail Q&A below)
Despite being very aware of the appalling cruelty of hare coursing, the Minister went on to claim that "coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interest of animal welfare both for hares and greyhounds alike".
It is entirely unacceptable for the Minister to present such a white-washed picture of coursing, particularly as ICABS highlights to him on an ongoing basis, the suffering caused to hares in coursing.
We are renewing our appeal to Minister Coveney to accept that coursing is intrinsically cruel and that the only way to change this is to remove the hare and replace it with a mechanical lure.
Please join us as we continue to push for a ban on this deplorable bloodsport.
Sign anti-coursing petitions
Minister Coveney: Replace hare coursing with drag coursing
Petition to Ban horrific Hare Coursing Cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Find more petitions on our Petitions Page
Appeal to the Minister for Agriculture to remove exemptions for coursing and foxhunting 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.
Ask Minister Deenihan to respect the wishes of the majority who want hare coursing banned and to withdraw 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
cc: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Tel: (01) 631 3804
Fax: (01) 661 1201
Constituency Details
18A The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry
Telephone: 068-57446
Fax: 068-57805
In 2003, Enda Kenny told ICABS: "I am opposed to the practice of live hare coursing." Today, join us in urging him to intervene to stop another season of coursing.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie
Telephone: 01-6194020
Fax: 01-6764048
Urge your local TDs to back a ban on cruel hare coursing:
Find out their names and contact details.
Write to your TDs at:
Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Videos: Drag Coursing - The humane alternative
Drag coursing videos prove there is no need for hares in coursing. This footage from Ireland and around the world shows greyhounds enthusiastically chasing inanimate lures.
Videos: Ireland's hare coursing cruelty
Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland in our Youtube video playlist which shows hares being hit and mauled. After watching, please join the campaign against this deplorable bloodsport.
Ireland's coursing cruelty catalogue 2013
Parliamentary Questions and Answers
Question 450 - Answered on 24th September, 2013
Sean Kyne, TD (Galway West, Fine Gael): To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider encouraging the take-up of drag coursing as an alternative to live hare coursing; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Simon Coveney: (Cork South Central, Fine Gael):
Under the provisions of the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 the regulation of coursing is chiefly a matter for the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry. The ICC has an established system of regulation in place to underpin animal welfare standards in coursing.
A Monitoring Committee on coursing was established during the 1993/1994 coursing season comprising of officials from my Department and representatives from both the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the ICC to monitor developments in coursing and in that regard the situation is kept under constant review to ensure that coursing is run in a well controlled and responsible manner in the interest of animal welfare both for hares and greyhounds alike.
Statistics compiled by the ICC show that a very high proportion (98.09%) of the hares captured for hare coursing were returned to the wild at the end of the 2012/2013 season.
The promotion of drag/lure “coursing” is an activity that falls outside my area of responsibility.
