Bloodsports
There are 130 registered hunt clubs, and 89 ICC affiliated coursing clubs in Ireland. Hunting season is from November - April, and coursing season is from September to February. During this time, thousands of foxes and hares are dug out of their dens, chased for hours, and savaged to death several times a week, all over the country, for "fun".
Bloodsports such as fox hunting, stag hunting (which was banned in 2010), hare coursing and shooting unfortunately still take place in Ireland.
Under the 'Animal Health & Welfare Bill 2013', anyone involved in killing an animal during the course of hunting is exempt from being prosecuted - meaning that these sick individuals never have to answer to anyone for what they do.
Furthermore, despite both fox hunting and hare coursing being barbaric and archaic, the Irish government continues to defend these cruel practices. The Dept. of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht actually grant the licences for hare coursing each year.
Foxes are dug out of their dens, and are then thrown in front of the hounds and riders. It is not long before the poor exhausted, frightened fox is caught and then shredded to bits by the hounds – as the riders look on, satisfied with their kill for the day.
Although stag hunting was banned in 2010 under the ‘Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2010’, the Ward Union still actively hunt. The stags are reared by the hunt members themselves, which means they are relatively tame. When they are carted off for a hunt, they are chased for hours at a time. At the end of the day, they are either injured or killed, trying to get away from the hounds. Those that do survive are put back in the cart and brought back home – so that they can be used again another day.
For hare coursing, the hares are wild-caught for events. The hares, frightened, are released into a circular field and are then pursued by greyhounds. Even though the dogs are muzzled, that does not prevent the hares from getting killed by being trampled, thrown or having their backs broken.
Lamping is a random, unorganised event which entails going out at night with a torch to daze and then shoot any animal you might find.
Organised shooting events, such as pheasant shoots, is where a gun club raises a batch of pheasant chicks, continues to feed them in their captive pens, and then one day releases them so the whole club can shoot as many as they can – which is most of them as the pheasants, by that stage, aren’t afraid of people.
These are what bloodsports are. To actually choose that, ‘for fun’ you will capture, chase and murder another living creature is so disgusting that mere words cannot describe the injustice of it all. No one has the right to do this. Who would want to?
So, what are we doing about it?
Protests
We have started protesting the Irish government about bloodsports - every single week! Keep an eye on our Facebook page for event notices. Fur farming was banned after 2 years of consistent campaigning, bloodsports is next!
Awarness
Much like many other issues, most people are unaware that during hunting season, our wildlife are being terrorised and killed for "fun" every single day of the week. We plan on doing a campaign tour to highlight this and gain support for the campaign to ban all bloodsports in Ireland.
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 bloodsports with regular 'TD of the Day' action alerts.
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
- info@naracampaigns.org
- National Animal Rights Association, Suite 10684, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2, D02 X361.
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