Irish hares running for their lives as cruel hare coursing continues in Kerry and Clare #Ireland #BanCoursing

Irish hares running for their lives as cruel hare coursing continues in Kerry and Clare
28 September 2017

Another season of hare coursing cruelty commences this week thanks to a licence shamefully issued by Arts and Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, hares forcefully netted from the wild will be running for their lives at a coursing meeting in Kilflynn in County Kerry. Also on Saturday and Sunday, hares will be used as live bait for dogs to chase at a coursing meeting in Liscannor in County Clare.

Please join us as we renew our appeal to Minister Heather Humphreys to show compassion for the hares, withdraw the licences she issued and give permanent protection to the Irish Hare.

ACTION ALERT

Express your support for a ban on coursing. Sign and share the petitions

Ireland: Ban cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

Stop Licensing Cruel Hare Coursing
https://www.change.org/p/minister-heather-humphreys-stop-licensing-cruel-hare-coursing

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Contact Minister Heather Humphreys now and urge her to stop licensing hare coursing

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

Email: Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie, ministers.office@ahg.gov.ie, taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie, Gerry.Leckey@ahg.gov.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1 631 3802 or +353 (0)1 631 3800
Leave a comment on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/heather.humphreysfg
Tweet to: @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)

Dear Minister,
I am one of the majority who want hare coursing outlawed. I am writing to urge you to withdraw the licences you issued 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]

Urgently contact An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar and An Tanaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Frances Fitzgerald. Ask them to ban hare coursing and give permanent protection to hares.

An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar
Department of the Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2
Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie
Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Tweet to @campaignforLeo
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/

An Tanaiste, Frances Fitzgerald
Department Of Justice
51 St. Stephen's Green
Dublin 2.
Tel: +353 1 602-8202 or +353 1 457 7712
Email: frances.fitzgerald@oir.ie
Tweet to: @FitzgeraldFrncs Tweet to @FitzgeraldFrncs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frances-Fitzgerald/302584593224671

Appeal to the Minister for Agriculture

Please appeal to the Minister for Agriculture to remove an exemption for coursing from the Animal Health and Welfare Act.

Michael Creed TD
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Agriculture House,
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: +353 (0)1-661 1013.
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd
Tweet to: @creedcnw
Tweet to @creedcnw

Visit the Oireachtas website for names of TDs and their email addresses http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/default.asp?housetype=0&HouseNum=32&disp=mem

Write to your TDs at: Dail Eireann, Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Tel: +353 (0)1-618 3000 or 1890 337 889.
Please also arrange a meeting with your TDs at their local clinics.

Minister Heather Humphreys @HHumphreysFG STOP LICENSING CRUEL HARE COURSING https://t.co/TAs06j7mzM #Ireland #BanHareCoursing pic.twitter.com/ycj35JJ6cL
— Ban Blood Sports (@banbloodsports) June 22, 2017

Videos: Ireland's cruel hare coursing

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:

A hare "squealing in distress" after being caught by a muzzled dog
A hare suffering with "a badly broken hind leg"
A hare "carrying a hind leg"
A hare with "a damaged hind toe"
A coursed hare with a "badly broken hind leg [which] seemed to be in great distress"
A hare in agony in a coursing enclosure with its leg "almost completely broken off".
A hare destroyed by a vet after it was found suffering with a dislocated hip
A hare that died "from knocks sustained during coursing"
A hare released back into the wild with a "damaged leg" that "could be broken"
A hare found dead in a coursing compound after succumbing to pneumonia.
A vet treated three hares for "minor abrasions" and "witnessed three other hares that appeared to die after coursing without any outward signs of injury. One of these was sent to the local regional veterinary laboratory. Post-mortem findings included internal adhesions, suggestive of an old condition."
Seven hares badly hit by greyhounds, with three dying as a result of the injuries.
An injured hare with "marks on its back and bare areas".
Two hares found dead in a coursing club paddock. An autopsy showed that one died from well established pneumonia while the other died from so-called "natural causes". Another died "during transportation from Loughrea to Westport."
13 hares hit by dogs and 1 put down because of injuries and 3 died from injuries. Veterinary opinion was that they died "from knocks sustained during coursing the previous day."

Slideshow: the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland

More information about hare coursing

Coursing: Leaflet | Photos | Videos | Petition

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.