is hare coursing legal in ireland
Over 100 hares "required assistance" after being struck during races, which led to over 20 of them dying of natural causes or having to be euthanised. End Hare Coursing in Ireland. Seventy-eight clubs operate in the country, and each meet takes place over two days, with 72 races per day. Hare Coursing There are 89 Irish Coursing Club affiliated clubs from Ireland and Northern Ireland. Coursing can also be a form of hunting or pest control. Mike that is old style coursing which does not take place anymore and hasnt taken place offically in ireland since 1993 or even more.Stewards would run in to save the hare if that claim was true.The topic here is about mussled coursing!Why do you think nobody has complained since we all cleaned it up?Why not write up something on old style coursing which is noww banned? [17], The practice of hare coursing has only recently, in historical terms, been debated in Parliament, although Parliament created an exemption in 1921 from the cruelty legislation, the Protection of Animals Act 1911, for animals released for coursing. In the past, Anderson urged Enda Kenny to ban wild animal circuses and called on Leo Varadkar to prohibit fur farming. The first thorough study was carried out in 1977–79 by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW), albeit that it said that it was "not easy to draw conclusions from these reports". Anderson, who said the suspension should be permanent, has written to Micheál Martin as part of her role with animal rights organisation Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). [50] These dogs have a precarious life after their coursing careers, with World Animal Protection suggesting that many tens of thousands die cruelly each year. [37] It takes place with up to four dogs chasing the hare. [51] Hare coursing also takes place in Russia[52][53] but is illegal in most European countries[54] and in Australia, where it had a long history from 1867 until it was banned in 1985 following a long decline in popularity.[55]. Pamela Anderson has written to the Taoiseach to urge him to ban hare coursing in Ireland. [81] Prosecutions were successful against two hare coursers in 2008[82] and against two Yorkshire landowners in 2009. Hare coursing is a cruel bloodsport that involves releasing a defenceless hare into a large field before releasing greyhounds to chase after them. And your government can heed that lesson by banning this so-called ‘sport’, in which gentle, sensitive hares – wild animals – are torn from their natural homes so that they can be chased by hounds for someone’s twisted idea of amusement. [40] Washington state lists jackrabbits as a protected species, due to an unusually low population for a western state, and bans all forms of hunting them. [3] The greyhounds which pursue the hare will, being faster, start to catch up with it. [30] Opinion polls commissioned by the League Against Cruel Sports as part of its campaigning have shown very strong public opposition to hare coursing from both urban and rural residents of Northern Ireland[89] (and the Republic of Ireland). [49] Coursing has long been undertaken in Spain, where Spanish galgos rather than greyhounds are used. Thousands of hare involved in hare coursing in Republic of Ireland. Open coursing is either run as walked-up coursing, where a line of people walk through the countryside to flush out a hare, or as driven coursing, where hares are driven by beaters towards the coursing field. [3][9] From 1876 coursing meets were held at Plumpton, East Sussex and this name was used for such events in Australia. Many hares die when they are captured, transported, and held captive before meets. Coursing events were recently suspended in Ireland due to Covid restrictions. [46] Hare coursing in Portugal may only be legally undertaken with two dogs[47] and operates under the same ethos as coursing in the United States. This agility gives the hare an important and often crucial advantage as it seeks to escape. The oldest documented description of hare coursing is the work known in English as On Coursing. However, as of 2015 it continues, illegally in counties with large areas of flat farmland suitable for hares: Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk, although criminals may travel large distances to course hares. The Republic of Ireland is one of the last countries in the world to allow the use of hares as live bait for greyhounds in coursing. Informal coursing has long been closely associated with pheasant hunting or poaching,[15] lacking the landowner's permission, and is often seen as a problem by the local public, landowners and the police. Police powerless and farmers under siege. [28], In the context of open (not park) coursing, the (British) National Coursing Club evidence to the Burns Inquiry said that muzzled coursing can cause more suffering than unmuzzled if the coursing officials are not able to reach injured hares quickly. Hare coursing sadly remains a legal blood sport in Ireland. [21], Modern hare coursing is practiced using a number of sighthounds: mainly greyhounds but also Borzois,[22] Salukis,[23] Whippets,[24] and Deerhounds[25] that are registered with a governing body such as the National Coursing Club or Kennel Club in Great Britain, the Irish Coursing Club, or the National Open Field Coursing Association (NOFCA) in the US. [3] The sighthound is released elsewhere by the handler. In the UK, the contest between the greyhounds was usually judged from horseback, and the winning greyhound proceeded to the next round of a knock-out tournament. Greyhounds were introduced in the Americas for sport and pleasure, they helped farmers control jackrabbits, and organised coursing meets were taking place in the United States in the 19th century,[33] by 1886 according to Gulf Coast Greyhounds. Hare hunting with dogs was banned in England and Wales by the Hunting Act 2004. [3] Under some coursing club rules, the dogs are awarded points on how many times they can turn the hare, and how closely they force the hare's progress. Please vote and leave your comments below: Events are conducted through local coursing clubs which are regulated by their governing body.