ANIMAL campaigners are calling on the Irish Government to follow Britain’s lead and ban the historic sport of hare coursing.
They allege that despite regulations designed to safeguard the Irish hare, which is a protected species in Ireland, coursing is a cruel activity that is at risk of harming the hare population.
Coursing is operated under the control of the Irish Coursing Club (ICC), and since 1993 it has involved muzzled greyhounds chasing a hare in an enclosed field with a designated escape.
Despite extensive regulations, illegal hunting still takes place where packs of un-muzzled dogs chase wildlife and sometimes livestock for an unlimited duration with the intention to kill the animal.
Most recently, on October 28 gardaí arrested nine people in Co. Tipperary in relation to illegal hunting, and seized a number of ‘Lurcher’ dogs, crossbred greyhound and herding dogs, and equipment.
Aideen Yourell, a spokeswoman for the Irish Council Against Blood Sports (ICABS), which formed in 1960, said that the organisation is fighting a losing battle against the Irish Government, which award the annual licences to coursing clubs.
“We are opposed to any form of coursing,” she told The Irish Post. “These hares are used as live bait, it’s just awful.
“This has been going on for years but it’s only become obvious now because of the pictures being uploaded on Facebook, and people bragging by uploading videos of dead hares.”
Ireland’s Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, issues the licence every August, which has 26 conditions attached to it.
It permits licence holders to attend coursing meetings between September 26 and February 28.
Ms Yourell added: “Minister Heather Humphreys is a complete disaster, she refuses point blank to meet us and totally ignores us, she doesn’t want to do anything about it because they fear losing votes.”
She said that the introduction of the Animal and Health Welfare Act 2013, which permits hare coursing “unless the hare is hunted or coursed in a space from which it does not have a reasonable chance of escape,” is a missed opportunity by the Irish Government to tackle the nationwide problem.
“Why can’t mechanical hares or paper bags be used instead of live hares,” she added. “Even if the animal gets away and released into the wild, it’ll be traumatised and it’s welfare is compromised.”
Hare coursing is banned in England, Scotland, Wales and the North of Ireland, but it remains a permitted activity in the Republic of Ireland.
The ICC oversees 80 coursing clubs, whilst meetings are supervised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and are monitored by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
In August, Minister Humphreys granted the 2015/2016 licence to the ICC and its affiliated coursing clubs, but two clubs were sanctioned due to infringing the licence terms in the previous season.
A spokeswoman for Minister Humphreys told The Irish Post that there is no current evidence that coursing has a significant effect on hare populations.
In relation to the ICABS alleging that they had been repeatedly refused a meeting with Minister Humphreys, the spokeswoman added:
“The Minister does receive numerous invitations from groups and individuals for meetings, events and conferences in relation to various issues which are pertinent to her Department. It is not always possible for her to accept such invitations.”
Meanwhile, Minister Humphreys welcomed the decision by the ICC to cancel a meeting at Doon Coursing Club in Co. Limerick, after a recent prosecution in Tullamore District Court of club members for illegal hunting in the 2014/2015 season.
D.J. Histon, Chief Executive Officer of the ICC, which marks its 100th year in 2016, told The Irish Post that the increase in illegal hunting is a result of the closure of many rural garda stations.
“Due to the decrease in garda presence in rural areas now, people are reacting to the change and illegal hunting is becoming more prevalent in any part of Ireland, not just the traditional coursing areas,” he said.
He believes that campaigners, such as the ICABS, should re-think their quest to ban coursing, as the activity is an important means of conservation, with club’s implementing their own hare preservation measures.
“The campaign groups who want to ban coursing should really come up with alternative ways for hare preservation,” he said.
“The ICC is helping to protect the hare population in Ireland with its conservation strategy, which is supported by Queen’s University (Belfast), and with the regulations it is actually helping to minimise cruelty to hares.”
