Opposition TDs propose laws to ban hare coursing

Sparks

From TheJournal.ie:

Opposition TDs propose laws to ban hare coursing
34 Comments


Image: James Horan/Photocall Ireland

Updated, 12.35

TWO TDS from the Technical Group have confirmed their intention to introduce new laws later this year which would conclusively ban hare coursing in Ireland.

Dublin Central independent Maureen O’Sullivan, and Socialist Party TD for Dublin North Clare Daly, are to propose legislation which they say will protect animals from cruelty in sports, as well as addressing other animal rights problems.

The commitment to issue the legislation comes after the TDs accused the government of failing to indicate whether hare coursing would be included in an Animal Health Bill coming later this year.

“We wish to address this directly in the Bill we are pushing, as we are concerned that hare coursing will once again be exempted along with other animal rights abuses,” the TDs said in a statement.

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with hounds who chase the hares based on sight (rather than scent). The sport is a competitive one for dogs, which are tested on their ability to outsprint each other.

The winning hound is the one which is able to come so close to the hare as to divert it from the line it was already taking to try and escape.

Though it is not strictly intended for the hare to be captured at the conclusion, animal rights campaigners say the sport can regularly end with injuries to the hares – and to the dogs chasing them.

“The mistreatment to hares extends to the techniques used to collect hares from the wild, training them to run in straight lines on the track, use of weak hares and through the practice of ‘blooding’ which although illegal, still continues today,” the TDs said.

The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports has campaigned for the abolition of coursing or for it to be replaced with ‘drag coursing’, which involves a mechanical lure.

A permanent ban on the sport in Northern Ireland came into effect in August of last year.

Comments here...

lb1981

More saps from the city having an opinion on a subject they know noting about.

p.s im from the city im just not a gob ****e :-D

4gun

lb1981 wrote: »

More saps from the city having an opinion on a subject they know noting about.

p.s im from the city im just not a gob ****e :-D

too much of an industry to ban I would think.

bet they have never even been to a meeting

with their concerns over the dogs getting injured what'll they think of next, banning horse racing ?
we have one of the strongest breed of hare in europe do to coursing

cavan shooter

Cant wait for this one Mattie mc Grath should have good comments....:D

johngalway

It would gaul those people to do anything constructive for a change. They're all about protesting and banning. Go away.

pugw

Fu*king hippy's. 2 Dublin TD's calling for legislation that will affect a sport followed by of thousands or Rural people. The simple reality is that in coursing club areas there are 18 times more hares due to locals protecting them and keeping fox numbers low, also farmers are willing to tolerate the presnce of high numbers of these grass munchers. If you ban coursing then the systems in place in these areas to protect hares will no longer exist and you will have lads going out popping them off like they do with rabbits, see what that will do for the Irish hare population. As for their argument about the cruelty of catching the hares, each one that gets caught is inspected by a vet and imunised against disease.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/donal-hickey/hares-more-plentiful-in-coursing-areas-115103.html

Grizzly 45

And one of them Daly I think,is the current most High Poobah[president] of ICABS!!Not surprising as she inherited Tony Greghorys seat [and proably his scruffy sportsjacket to go with it!]!A Trotty of the highset order.So no surprises there at the attention headline grab there.

djflawless

any wonder we're in recession?any thing that happens out side the citys must not be seen to make money.im sure hare coursing pumps a nice little sum into the economy. .while conserving the habitats and the animals that live in them.and about the animal abuse??get the f@+k. .anyone remember the video posted online from clonmel by 'animal activists' who snared a hare in an adjacent lot near the track to get the hare squeeling and trying to catch its breath 'after a course'??

terminator2

could be the end of their political careers.........remember the greens

blackstairsboy

There was a time I would get worked up about the likes of those two talking out of there arses about rural pursuits. I just tend to ignore them now saves me getting annoyed. As long as all branches of fieldsports from fishing to coursing to hunting stick together and unite when we are theatened then there is enough of us out here to protect our sports.

djflawless

blackstairsboy wrote: »

As long as all branches of fieldsports from fishing to coursing to hunting stick together and unite when we are theatened then there is enough of us out here to protect our sports.

here here

sfakiaman

pugw wrote: »

Fu*king hippy's. 2 Dublin TD's calling for legislation that will affect a sport followed by of thousands or Rural people. [/URL]

That is an unnecessary slur on hippies!

terminator2

sfakiaman wrote: »

That is an unnecessary slur on hippies!

tree huggers

mrbrianj

Hare coursing in inner city Dublin must be shocking bad!

The whole thing started me thinking about the last time the stag hunters had problems --- where is "RISE" now or was that just a pr job for hunts

lb1981

mrbrianj wrote: »

Hare coursing in inner city Dublin must be shocking bad!

The whole thing started me thinking about the last time the stag hunters had problems --- where is "RISE" now or was that just a pr job for hunts

We dont course hares in the city just young ones that walk around in their pyjamas all day, plenty of them so the dog is always on the go Letting the dog chase the post man down the street is good craic too ,they nearly have the measure of him.

More seriously the country is on its knees at the moment ,suicide rates are massive with people that cant aford to feed their family taking their own lives , the dole ques are a mile long and we might end up being dictated to by Germany and all these clowns care about is stopping a dog from chasing a hare,they need to get a grip.

lee70

There going to be talking about hare coursing on 2FM today/now 11-1pm colm hayes.
He is looking for people to ring into the show and talk about coursing and the coursing that was going on in Clonmel at the weekend.

terminator2

ill ring in :D

kildare.17hmr

terminator2 wrote: »

ill ring in :D

Bit late now lad!!

Hibrion

If Colm Hayes is talking about it, you can be guaranteed of an misinformed, biased and totally exaggerated view point!

doctor evil

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0202/1224311111801.html

A JUNIOR Minister has rejected the banning of live hare coursing, saying the greyhound sector creates jobs and is “part of our way of life” in Ireland.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Shane McEntee, who is responsible for the sector, also said there is no danger to the hare and opponents should come and witness the sport for themselves.

He said the Government is “committed to supporting the whole greyhound industry” and that includes both track racing and coursing. Speaking at the final day of the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, Mr McEntee said the greyhound sector creates employment and is a part of Irish life.

“The best greyhounds in the world are bred in Ireland, just like the best horses are bred in Ireland. We have to make sure no one comes near to taking that away from us.”

Two members of the Technical Group in the Dáil, Clare Daly and Maureen O’Sullivan, have indicated their intention to introduce a private members’ Bill before Easter, seeking the abolition of hare coursing. Mr McEntee yesterday appealed to opponents of the sport to witness it at first hand.

“Anyone who would come down and see what is happening today – the only one that’s being made a fool of is the greyhound. There’s no danger to the hare and people should come and see for themselves.”

Up to 50,000 people are estimated to have attended the three days of the national coursing meeting, in Powerstown Park racecourse in Clonmel, which is estimated to be worth about €16 million to the local economy. Chief-executive of the Irish Coursing Club, DJ Histon, pointed out that muzzling of the greyhounds taking part has been in place since 1993.

He said that, of the 565,000 hares found to exist in Ireland in a Department of the Environment survey in 2007, coursing clubs required 1 per cent.

The Clonmel event attracted large-scale protests in the years before muzzling was introduced but in recent years opposition has been more low-key.

A small crowd led by the Animal Rights Action Network held a “symbolic” protest outside Powerstown Park on Monday but there was no picket yesterday.

Seems more balanced than other articles, Would like to know what was the highest numbers of antis though.

blackstairsboy

Nice to read something supportive of fieldsports in the paper for a change.

Grizzly 45

'Bout 300/375 in total..Hardcore maybe 80,ultra hardcore 20.
Hard to keep tabs on their membership,as they are all multiple members of each dog &pony group out there.

Cass

I have merged all three threads concerning Hare coursing into one thread to keep all discussion, and points centralised.