Hare Coursing(04:11) Thousands of hares are snatched from the wild and chased by greyhounds. Some of the hares will be battered and mauled into the ground by the dogs. Some will sustain injuries so severe that they will die on the coursing fields. All will suffer the fear and stress of running for their lives.
The Republic of Ireland has become one of the last remaining countries in the world to allow hare coursing. The cruel blood sport has already been banned in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and remains illegal in most civilised nations.
Coursing continues despite the fact that successive opinion polls since the 1960s have confirmed that a majority of Irish people want it made illegal. A Sunday Independent poll, for example, showed that eight in ten want this blood sport banned.
In 1993, the muzzling of greyhounds in enclosed coursing was introduced. As predicted by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports at the time, muzzling has failed to eliminate the cruelty from coursing.
Thousands of hares are snatched from the wild and chased by greyhounds.
Some of the hares will be battered and mauled into the ground by the dogs.
Some will sustain injuries so severe that they will die on the coursing
fields. All will suffer the fear and stress of running for their lives.
Please join us in telling the Irish Government that it is now time to
replace live hare coursing with drag coursing.
This would involve a simple transition from the use of live hares to the use of a mechanical lure. This lure is rapidly pulled along the ground and, through a system of pulleys, is made to emulate the sudden changes in direction made by hares. Drag coursing is practised successfully in several countries around the world, including the USA, Canada and Australia where live hare coursing is illegal.
