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- National Animal Rights Association, Suite 10684, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, D02 X361.
Hare Coursing
Hare coursing is already banned in Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland. It’s time for this unnecessary cruelty to end in the Republic of Ireland too!
There are 89 Irish Coursing Club affiliated clubs from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Between them, the capture 5,000 wild hares every year.
Hare coursing is a cruel bloodsport that involves releasing a defenceless hare into a large field before releasing greyhounds to chase after them.
The hare will usually be given a 100 yard head start before the greyhounds are released. The dogs will usually catch up quickly, as they are bigger and faster. The goal is to "turn" the hare, meaning change the hare's direction. The dog who does this, wins.
Unaware the dogs are muzzled, the hare is literally running for their life. However, even with a muzzle, the dogs can still severely injure or kill the hares by crushing them into the ground or pushing their delicate bodies into the air. If the hare reaches an ‘escape’ area without being caught by the dogs, unfortunately they still continue to be exploited by coursing club officials.
Irish hares are protected under the 1976 Wildlife Act, but it also protects
hare coursing – it’s illegal to trap or sell hares unless it’s for the purpose of
coursing them. In Ireland, there are two forms of coursing: Enclosed
coursing and open coursing. They both involve a live hare. Approximately
5,000 hares are used each coursing season. They are subjected to
stressful environments, injury, and even death. In 1993 the Irish Coursing
Club (ICC) were forced by the government to muzzle greyhounds at
enclosed meetings, and in 2015 the ICC adopted the same policy for open meetings.
About a month before coursing meetings, a cruel process known as ‘netting’ takes place. It involves ICC supporters herding groups of hares into nets. This handling of the hares is extremely cruel and stressful for these delicate animals, who are solitary creatures. Often hares will die or be seriously injured as a result.
Although the ICC do not condone ‘blooding’ – a gruesome event which
involves a small animal such as a rabbit or kitten being mauled to death by
a greyhound – it is seen as ‘essential’ to many dog owners, as it gives the
greyhound a taste for blood and makes them perform better. Although it is
illegal, blooding is widespread amongst the coursing community. It’s also
important to realise that the rules, regulation, and activity of coursing clubs
are monitored by coursing officials themselves, not an independent or state
body.
The appalling Irish Greyhound Racing industry is linked to the Irish
Coursing industry. Approximately 15,000-20,000 greyhounds are bred each
year. An estimated 10,000 greyhounds cannot be accounted for. The ICC are
responsible for holding the stud book for all tattooed greyhounds. Most
coursing dogs will only last one or two seasons before disappearing. Irish
greyhounds are often either exported to other countries, where they will
continue to be exploited, or killed in Ireland. In 2012, a mass grave
containing the remains of seven greyhounds was discovered in Limerick. An
investigation found that two of the greyhounds were given to a third party to
be shot in the head after showing no interest in chasing hares.
This has to stop. Please help us ban hare coursing in Ireland.
Contact us to join the campaign, attend protests and lobby your local TDs!
*Special thanks to our friends at ICABS for the use of their photos.
Please share our campaign video below!
So, what are we doing about it?
Protests
Banning hare coursing is our main campaign at the moment, and we are protesting the Dept. of Agriculture every single Tuesday, as well as travelling around the country every Saturday doing info stalls and leaflet drops! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for event notices. Fur farming was banned after 2 years of consistent campaigning, hare coursing is next!
Awarness
Much like many other issues, most people are unaware that during hare coursing is still legal in the Republic of Ireland. We plan on doing a campaign tour to highlight this and gain support nationwide to ban hare coursing immediately.
Lobbying
As usual, the government play a huge role in allowing this disgusting activity to exist. We will be going party to party lobbying for a ban, and putting a spotlight on those who support hare coursing with daily 'TD of the Day' action alerts on Facebook.
We have various campaigns running at any one time. Please click to learn about more issues!
NARA is a legal, grassroots level organisation that only operates within the law. Information on this website is for the purpose of legal protest and information only. It should not be used to commit any criminal acts or harassment. NARA is not affiliated to any other animal rights group. NARA has no links or involvement with the Animal Liberation Front or the Animal Rights Militia. Any articles published on this web site relating to illegal activities are posted for the sole reason of publishing news related to animal rights, and are not intended to incite or encourage similar acts.
CONTACT
- [email protected]
- National Animal Rights Association, Suite 10684, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, D02 X361.
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