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Successful Dublin demos highlight cruelty of coursing and bullfighting
07 August 2015
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports thanks everyone who joined us for our two demonstrations in Dublin on Thursday August 6th. The demos succeeded in highlighting the cruelty of hare coursing and bullfighting to thousands.
Our first demo of the day took place outside the Department of Arts and Heritage on Kildare Street. Here, our message to Minister Heather Humphreys was to stop licensing hare coursing. A decision on the latest coursing licence application is expected this month and we hope that, given the ongoing injuries and deaths caused to hares as well as the numerous breaches of licence conditions last season, the Minister will do the right thing and stop facilitating this shameful activity. Numerous copies of our "Ireland's Cruel BloodSports" leaflet were handed out to pedestrians on the day.
Later in the afternoon, we moved to outside the Spanish Tourism Office at 1-3 Westmoreland Street where thousands of leaflets were distributed to passersby. The leaflets encourage holidaymakers visiting Spain and other bullfighting countries to boycott the bullrings.
The response was very positive, with many (including tourists from Spain) expressing support.
Many thanks again to all the individuals and groups who attended the demos.
Double demo in Dublin to demand end to cruel coursing and bullfighting
29 July 2015
Please note that the original date of Wednesday August 5th has been changed to THURSDAY, August 6th.
This THURSDAY, August 6th, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports will stage two demonstrations in Dublin City.
The first one, at 12 midday, will be outside the Department of Arts & Heritage, 23 Kildare Street, to appeal to Arts & Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys to reject a licence application for a 2015-16 hare coursing licence.
The licence would allow coursers to again net thousands of hares from the wild for use as live bait for greyhounds at coursing meetings around the country. Last season, hares continued to suffer and die during coursing meetings - as highlighted in the ICABS "Coursing Cruelty Catalogue" report. A decision on the latest licence application is expected in the coming weeks. We need to send a strong message to Minister Humphreys that the Irish hare - a so-called protected species - should be allowed to live free from persecution.
Later at 3pm, we will assemble outside the Spanish Tourism Office at 1-3 Westmoreland Street, Dublin City. We will protest against the tourism body's promotion of bullfighting to Irish holidaymakers going to Spain. On the Ireland page of the Spanish Government's Spain.info website, tourists are urged to "Come to Spain and discover the world of bullfighting - you are sure to have fun." Earlier this month, the Spanish Tourism Office held an event at the Morgan Hotel, Dublin, promoting the bullrunning at Pamplona.
A petition set up by ICABS last week, which calls on Spanish Tourism to stop promoting animal cruelty, has been signed by over 9,000 people from Ireland and around the world. Please sign and share the petition at https://www.change.org/p/spanish-tourism-stop-promoting-cruel-bullfighting
We want to send a clear message to the Spanish Tourism office that Ireland says NO to bullfighting. Our presence on Westmoreland Street will highlight the cruelty of bullfighting and hopefully encourage people travelling to Spain to boycott the bullrings.
If you are free on the day, please join us for one or both of these demos. Placards and banners will be available.
DEMO DETAILS
Demo 1
Date: THURSDAY, August 6th 2015
Time: 12 midday
Location: Department of Arts & Heritage, 23 Kildare Street, Dublin
Demo 2
Date: THURSDAY, August 6th 2015
Time: 3pm
Location: Spanish Tourism Office, 1-3 Westmoreland Street, Dublin (to the right of the Bank of Ireland building's railings)
Refuse a 2015-16 coursing licence: Contact Minister Humphreys now
25 June 2015
It has been confirmed that coursers have applied for a licence for another season of hare coursing cruelty. Please join us in urging Minister Heather Humphreys to act on the wishes of the majority who want coursing banned and reject the licence application.
ACTION ALERTS
Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign and share petitions
Stop Licensing Cruel Hare Coursing
Save Irish hares from cruel coursing
Ban horrific hare coursing cruelty in Ireland
Stop sponsoring hare coursing in Ireland
Urge Minister Heather Humphreys to show compassion for the persecuted Irish Hare and stop licensing cruel coursing.
Email "Stop the cruelty. Refuse a 2015-16 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
Tweet to Heather Humphreys: @HHumphreysFG
Tweet to @HHumphreysFG
SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please compose your own personal letter. Otherwise, feel free to send the short sample letter below.)
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Dear Minister,
I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed in Ireland. I am writing to urge you to reject a licence application for a 2015-16 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 occur. I ask you to please act on the wishes of the majority, show compassion and refuse to issue the licence. Thank you. Yours sincerely, [Name/Location] |
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.
Tweet to @simoncoveney
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
Tweet to @EndaKennyTD
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.
Spanish Tourism shamefully promoting bullfighting to Irish holidaymakers
24 July 2015
"Come to Spain and discover the world of bullfighting - you are sure to have fun." This is the shameful message being presented by the Spanish Government's international tourism authority. The tourism body is not only encouraging people to attend bullfights but to also participate in the barbarity, saying "there are many companies in Spain that prepare everything necessary for you to bullfight young cows and bulls".
Earlier this month, the Spanish Tourism Office in Ireland was courting Irish travel writers in an attempt to promote animal cruelty events in Spain. The Dublin-based office wined and dined members of the media in an event to "celebrate" the cruel Pamplona bullrunning festival.
Those who turned up to the Morgan Hotel's penthouse suite were plied with Spanish wine and gifted a red "Pamplona - I like it" neckerchief - the type worn by drunk revellers who partake in the internationally condemned bullrun. Video footage was played at the Dublin gathering, showing the doomed bulls running through the crowds towards their painful fate in the local bullring.
One blogger who attended later presented the bullrun as a "breathtaking race" for the "most daring participants", adding that "The Spanish Tourism Office in Ireland really know how to throw a party". There was no mention of the suffering of the bulls, of course - something that Spanish Tourism was unlikely to have mentioned on the night.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports has contacted members of the media who attended to highlight the cruelty of bullrunning and bullfighting. We are urging them to reject animal cruelty promotions and use their positions to encourage holidaymakers to boycott such events.
The Spanish Tourism website, Spain.info, is clearly keen to attract people of all nationalities to the bullfighting hellholes where animals are brutally tortured and killed. They have translated their pro-bullfighting message into multiple languages, including English, German, Dutch, Italian and French.
The offensive content presented on the page aimed at Irish holidaymakers includes:
By trying to lure holidaymakers into the blood-soaked bullrings, Spanish tourism is complicit in the continuation of this cruelty. As most Spaniards no longer have any interest in bullfighting, it is in many cases the tourists who keep bullrings afloat. If tourism authorities and travel agents stopped pushing tickets on tourists, it would surely spell the end for many bullrings.
Spain is the number one destination for Irish tourists with over 1.3 million visits from Ireland every year. The Irish Council Against Blood Sports believes that by actively promoting bullfighting, Spanish tourism authorities risk repelling many potential visitors who view bullfighting as the abhorrent and unacceptable obscenity that it is.
Spanish Tourism is promoting cruel bullfighting. Sign petition asking them to stop https://t.co/U7Isqt6YDe pic.twitter.com/6BSxPrY8kk
— Ban Blood Sports (@banbloodsports) July 25, 2015ACTION ALERT
Sign and share our new petition
Spanish Tourism - Stop promoting cruel bullfighting
https://www.change.org/p/spanish-tourism-stop-promoting-cruel-bullfighting
Contact the Spanish Tourism Office and make it clear that, as one of the majority opposed to animal cruelty, you find it very offensive that they are actively promoting bullfighting and bullrunning. If their promotion of animal cruelty would make you chose an alternative holiday destination, please point this out in your correspondence.
Gonzalo Ceballos, Director
Spanish Tourism Office in Ireland
1-3 Westmoreland Street, Dublin
Tel: 01-6350200
Email: dublin@tourspain.es, munich@tourspain.es, frankfurt@tourspain.es, berlin@tourspain.es, guangzhou@tourspain.es, beijing@tourspain.es, londres@tourspain.es, nuevayork@tourspain.es, milan@tourspain.es, prensa@tourspain.es, roma@tourspain.es, viena@tourspain.es, spaininfo@tourspain.es, duesseldorf@tourspain.es, losangeles@tourspain.es, chicago@tourspain.es, oetmiami@tourspain.es, copenhague@tourspain.es, paris@tourspain.es, info.tokio@tourspain.es
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spain.info.ie
Tweet to: @Spain @SpaininIreland Spanish Tourism - Stop promoting cruel bullfighting https://www.change.org/p/spanish-tourism-stop-promoting-cruel-bullfighting
Tweet to @Spain
More anti-bullfighting petitions
"Ticketmaster: Stop selling bullfighting tickets"
Stop selling bullfighting tickets
About.com: Stop publicising cruel bullfighting events
Fodors Travel Guides: Stop directing tourists to bullrings
If you choose to holiday in a bullfighting country (Spain, France, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela), please do not visit bullfighting arenas or museums. Avoid purchasing any bullfight-related souvenirs. Join the international campaign against bullfighting. Please register your opposition to this horrific blood sport with the governments and political representatives of bullfighting countries as well as to the local Ambassadors.
Contact the Spanish Ambassador to Ireland, or your country of residence, to register opposition to bullfighting. Express your desire to see bullfighting banned throughout all of Spain.
The Spanish Ambassador to Ireland
Embassy of Spain
17A Merlyn Park, Dublin 4.
Email: emb.dublin@maec.es
Tel 1: +353 (0)1 2691640 or +353 (0)1 2692597
Videos: The cruelty of the Pamplona bullrun and bullfighting
Watch More ICABS Campaign Videos
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