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Urge Minister Humphreys to stop Mallow hare coursing meet
03 October 2014

Minister Heather Humphreys is being urged to intervene to stop Mallow hare coursing meeting from going ahead on 22/23rd October. The call follows an apparent breach of condition number 18 of the hare coursing licence granted by her Department.

Documents obtained by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports under Freedom of Information show that at Mallow coursing meeting last year, a ranger encountered lack of cooperation. When she arranged to meet the coursers to release the hares, they failed to turn up and refused to give her a mobile number, telling her that the organiser had no mobile phone (a likely story in this day and age!).

According to condition 18 of the licence, coursing clubs "shall co-operate fully with any officer of the Minister and shall comply with any request made by such an officer in the course of his/her duties".

Last month, Minister Humphreys' office insisted that "all conditions of the licences must be fully adhered to" and that "breaches of the conditions of the licences will not be tolerated".

At another meeting - in Liscannor in September 2013 - the Conservation Ranger was intimidated by the coursers who refused to cooperate with her. In her report, she noted that following the meeting (at which 14 hares were hit by dogs, 1 injured and 3 mauled), she "wished to check the paddock on the morning of the releases but was unable to due to lack of co-operation and intimidation." Clearly a breach of licence condition 18, yet Liscannor apparently received no sanction and it was business as usual on 27th and 28th September 2014 when they held their meeting.

In a letter to Minister Humphreys this week, ICABS asked: "What kind of message does this send out to the coursing bullies - that it’s okay to intimidate National Parks and Wildlife Service staff and get away with it? This undermines the authority of the Conservation Ranger. Liscannor coursing club should have been denied a meeting this year, at the very least."

ICABS is continuing to lobby for a ban on all hare coursing across Ireland. With the 2014-15 coursing season underway, the suffering continues for hares as they are used as live lures for greyhounds. Please help end this barbaric bloodsport by responding to our action alert below and signing/sharing our petition.

 ACTION ALERTS 

Sign and share our petition - Stop Licensing Cruel Hare Coursing

Urge Minister Heather Humphreys to intervene to stop Mallow hare coursing meeting from going ahead on 22/23rd October.

Email "Minister Humphreys - Stop Mallow hare coursing meeting" to Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie
[Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie,ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie,taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,joan.burton@oireachtas.ie,wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie,Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie]
Tel: (01) 631 3802 or (01) 631 3800
Leave a comment on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/heather.humphreysfg

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 Humphreys,

I am writing to urge you to act to prevent the Mallow hare coursing meeting from going ahead on 22/23rd October.

Last month, your office insisted that "all conditions of the [coursing] licences must be fully adhered to" and that "breaches of the conditions of the licences will not be tolerated".

At Mallow coursing meeting last season, contrary to licence condition 18, a ranger encountered lack of cooperation - when she arranged to meet the coursers to supervise the release of 22 hares, they failed to turn up. They also refused to give her a mobile number for the organiser.

I urge you to prevent the Mallow coursing meet from going ahead and further urge you to revoke the licence you granted for the 2014-15 coursing season. In coursing, hares suffer 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. Every season, hare injuries and deaths are documented.

Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Location]

Minister Humphreys Licenses Cruel Wildlife Abuse
27 August 2014

Just 48 hours after a declaration by Arts & Heritage Minister, Heather Humphreys, that the persecution of wildlife is "intolerable", she issued a licence which allows thousands of hares to be violently netted from the wild for use as live bait for greyhounds.

Earlier this month, the Minister condemned wildlife persecution as "intolerable". Reacting to the illegal shooting of a protected peregrine falcon, she was quoted in the media on August 13th as saying: "It is intolerable for birds of prey and other wildlife to be persecuted, poisoned or shot."

But it has emerged that just two days later, she gave the go-ahead to the shameful coursing licence - dated August 15th. The licence (a copy of which was today released to the Irish Council Against Blood Sports) allows coursers to net around 5,500 hares from their habitats and use them as live lures for dogs at 80 or so meetings during a coursing season which extends over a 22 week period from September 27th to March 1st. Ironically, the victim of Minister Humphrey's licence, the Irish Hare, is accorded "protected" status under our Wildlife Act.

In issuing the licence, the Minister has disregarded appeals from Ireland and around the world for the licence application to be rejected. Brought to her attention was an Irish Council Against Blood Sports report documenting injuries and deaths in coursing last season (see below for Catalogue of Cruelty). For example, at Doon & District, 4 hares were struck by greyhounds and put down because of their injuries; at Dundalk and Dowdallshill, 6 hares struck, 4 put down; at Tradaree, 13 hares struck by dogs, 3 “found dead in the paddock” the next day; at Gorey, 4 hares hit, with 2 dying of their injuries, and the list goes on. What can you expect when two psyched up greyhounds, weighing up to 40kg and travelling at speeds of up to 70km, strike a hare weighing 3kg.

She has also been made aware of the fear and terror experienced by this gentle, timid wild creature, cruelly snatched up in a net, shoved into a box and kept captive for approximately six weeks prior to the event. Many hares die from stress-related illnesses, as attested to by a vet who carried out post mortems on hares that died in a coursing compound. "Hares being normally solitary animals are significantly stressed when corralled and coursed, and this combination of circumstances has resulted in the deaths in this case,” he stated.

Thanks to this latest licence from Minister Heather Humphreys and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, hares will again be running for their lives in front of pairs of greyhounds as a merciless mob of diehards cheer and bet on the outcome.

Earlier this month, Minister Humphreys also expressed concern that cruelty to wildlife "harms our reputation as a country that values its wildlife". Her licensing of barbaric hare coursing brings much shame on Ireland and does untold damage to our international reputation, particularly as our neighbours England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, have long since outlawed it.

The hare coursing licence issued by Minister Heather Humphreys

 ACTION ALERTS 

Urge Minister Heather Humphreys to show compassion for the persecuted Irish Hare and revoke the coursing licence she issued.

Email "Stop the cruelty. Revoke the hare coursing licence" to Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie
[Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie,ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie,taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie,joan.burton@oireachtas.ie,wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie,Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie]
Tel: (01) 631 3802 or (01) 631 3800
Leave a comment on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/heather.humphreysfg

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,

I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to urge you to revoke the licence you issued to the Irish Coursing Club.

In coursing, hares suffer 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. Every season, hare injuries and deaths are documented.

I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and permanently revoke the licence.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Location]

Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign a petition:

Minister - Don't License Cruel Hare Coursing
Save Irish hares from cruel coursing
Ban horrific hare coursing cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland

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
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 ask him to back a ban on hare coursing.

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

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.

Heather Humphreys - Halt the hare horror
08 August 2014

The fate of thousands of Irish hares lies in the hands of one politician - Arts and Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys. Please join us in urging Minister Humphreys to halt the horror for hares and refuse a licence for another season of coursing cruelty.

Ireland's hare coursing cruelty catalogue 2014
23 June 2014

The ongoing cycle of hare coursing cruelty continues. A new ICABS report highlights the victims of coursing during the 2013-14 season. Please read our report and join calls for a ban on this cruel bloodsport.

Coursing Cruelty Catalogue 2014 by Irish Council Against Blood Sports

Make a donation to ICABS

Please consider making a 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.


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