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ANIMAL WRITESThe collected letters of John Fitzgerald



ABOUT JOHN FITZGERALD

John Fitzgerald is the Public Relations Officers for the Campaign for the

Abolition Of Cruel Sports. He has been involved in the campaign againstblood sports for almost three decades and during this time has writtenhundreds of letters to editors, a selection of which are compiled in this book.

John is also a freelance journalist and writer and has contributed articles to anumber of national and provincial Irish newspapers and to the popular Ireland'sOwn magazine.

He is also the author of Bad Hare Days, a book which focuses on the ups anddowns of his years campaigning against hare coursing.

Other books he has authored deal with aspects of his native county's heritage,history, and folklore: Kilkenny – People Places Faces, Kilkenny – A Blast from thePast, Callan in the Rare Old Times, Callan through the Mists of Time and Are WeInvaded Yet?

John lives in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland from where he continues tocampaign and highlight the cruelty of bloodsports.



CONTENTS

A Place For The Fox.........................................................................................01

Enclosed Hare Coursing ...................................................................................02

No Respite ........................................................................................................ 03

We Have A Confused Attitude To Animal Welfare ...........................................04

Protecting The Irish Hare ..................................................................................05

New Oireachtas Petitions System ................................................................... 06

Cub-Hunting And Netting Of Hares Far From Sports' Ideal..............................07

Hare Coursing Shames Ireland.........................................................................08

The Recession Has A Silver Lining .................................................................. 09

Animal Welfare Bill Deserves Some Attention.................................................. 10

JP Mcmanus And Hare Coursing Cruelty ........................................................ 12

Greyhound Grave .............................................................................................13

Issue Of Animal Cruelty Practices Not Misdirected, Despite Criticism............. 14

Nothing As Lovely As A Tree............................................................................16

Deenihan Should Consider Heroics Of Byrne Before Granting Licences ........ 17

Decision Time For Hare Coursing ................................................................... 18

Double Standards On Animal Treatment Fails Gandhi's Test..........................19

Animal Welfare Bill A Crushing Disappointment............................................... 20

Muzzling Fails To Protect Hares In Coursing ................................................... 21

Animal Abuse Is No Surprise............................................................................22

FF Plan Is As Mad As A March Hare................................................................ 23FF Rebels Fighting Wrong Cause ................................................................... 24

Hunt Ban Must Not Be Reversed...................................................................... 25

Horses Shouldn't Be Saddled With Cruelty ...................................................... 26

Taking The Hare Out Of Coursing .................................................................... 27

Irish Times 150th Anniversary .......................................................................... 28

68 Million Euro Subsidies To Horse & Greyhound Industries........................... 29

Hare Coursing Is Simply Cruel.......................................................................... 31

The Real Issues In Rural Ireland ...................................................................... 32



Programme For Government Deal ................................................................... 33

End Savagery Of Hare Coursing ..................................................................... 34

It's Time Sinn Fein Stopped Backing Hare Coursing........................................ 35

Hare Coursing Won't Be Missed....................................................................... 36

Mongrel Foxes ..................................................................................................37'Sickening Cruelty' Of Bullfighting ..................................................................... 38

Bullfighting Ban And Hare Coursing ................................................................. 39

When Will We Finally See An End To Blood Sports?....................................... 40

Sinn Fein Aiming To Block Hare Coursing Ban...............................................41

No Thrill In The Chase Of Stag Hunting ........................................................... 42

Seal Killers Hide Behind A Wall Of Silence ...................................................... 43

Why We Should Ban Fox Hunting .................................................................... 44

Future Of The Hare Is Threatened By Coursing & Hunting.............................. 45

We Must Rally To Defence Of The Corncrake And Hare .................................47

Paul Carberry And Hunting ...............................................................................49

Pregnant Hares.................................................................................................50

Backbench Revolt On Stag Hunting ................................................................ 51

Hounding Wild Dogs For 'Sport'........................................................................ 52

Matador Goring Underlines Cruelty In Blood Sports ........................................ 53

Drag Coursing Is The Answer To The Abuse Of Hares ................................... 54

The Real Issues In Rural Ireland ..................................................................... 56

Ban This Cruel Stag Hunting ............................................................................57

Greens Must Pursue Ban On Hare-Coursing ..................................................58

Irish Hare Is Thrown Lifeline .............................................................................59

Cowen's Support Of Blood Sports Bodes Ill ..................................................... 60

'Blooding' Is Simply Too Cruel .......................................................................... 61

Take The Cruelty Out Of Coursing ................................................................... 62

Now The Hunter Becomes The Hunted........................................................... 63

Blood Sports - Hare Coursers Are Welcomed Here .........................................64

Maligned Fox Back Into Bosom Of The Family ................................................66Garda Corruption - My Experience Of Garda Harassment............................... 68

Urban Dwellers Prove Foxes Are Not The 'Pests' Portrayed By Hunters ........ 70



1

A PLACE FOR THE FOXIrish Independent, December 20, 2012

While the presence of animals at the birth of Jesus may be a myth, I hope thisChristmas tradition will continue.

My favourite crib is the one at the Dominican Church in Limerick. This has anadditional guest: a fox effigy, recalling a legend concerning the holy family. One ofthe three wise men is supposed to have given Jesus a fox cub as a gift.

By the time Herod had ordered the killing of the child, the cub had grown tomaturity. The fox, according to the story, threw Herod's hounds off the scent,enabling the holy family to escape.

It's just a legend, of course, but I have to say I prefer it to the grim reality of how the

fox is treated in present-day Ireland. Though a treasured part of our wildlifeheritage, it has no legal protection.

Ladies and gentlemen of leisure hunt the wily creature with packs of hounds. Then,after the pack has cornered and eviscerated it, the hunters hack its brush (tail) offand smear their faces with its blood.

I suggest that our Government take a cue from the friars at that Limerick churchand give the long-suffering fox a break. As the song says: "All God's creatures have

a place in the choir."

John Fitzgerald



2

ENCLOSED HARE COURSINGIrish Times, December 28, 2012

The festive season is always marred by an upsurge in the number ofenclosed coursing events, with hundreds of these timid and defenceless

creatures being forced to run for their lives.

Each hare, after being snatched from its natural home in the countryside, will besubjected to the terror of live baiting. The really unlucky ones will be mauled ormaimed when forcibly struck by the dogs. The brittle-boned creature tends not tosurvive fractures and other internal injuries.

It faces a greater challenge this season due to a decision by several coursing clubsto hold three-day meetings, thus adding an extra day to their baiting sessions.

In theory, a hare will be coursed only once each day, but now many more hares willhave to risk horrific injury three days in a row.

And the animals must perform in all weathers. Since the present season opened inlate September, they have been coursed in muddy or water-logged fields and evenhailstorms, as clearly borne out by videos of the “sport” posted by fans onYouTube.

It is bad enough that the Government proposes to exempt hare coursing from

prohibition under the new Animal Health and Welfare Bill.

On top of that retrograde step, it is allowing coursing clubs to play what amounts toa form of Russian roulette with the hares.

Successive opinion polls reveal that a big majority of the Irish people favour a banon this blood sport. But so far the politicians have failed to act. They continue toturn their backs on a gentle creature that enhances our natural environment andthat threatens neither man nor beast.

The backwoodsmen have had their day...many days...of stomach-churning cruelty.It’s time to give the hare a break and call off the dogs.

John Fitzgerald



3

NO RESPITEIrish Independent, December 13, 2012

The Government's insistence that the decision to significantly cut the respitecare grant was necessary and unavoidable rings hollow when you consider

that it has, in the same Budget, forked out a colossal €59.2m to the horse andgreyhound racing sector.

The Fine Gael-Labour Coalition must have a political death wish if it persists in thisworse-than-Scrooge behaviour, ravaging the lives of the most vulnerable people onthis island while pouring precious funds into gambling-relating industries thatdeserve not one cent of taxpayers' money.

Even Scrooge didn't go as far as these Merchants of Misery. He was just miserlyand anti-social. Our Government, by contrast, has seemingly gone out of its way to

exacerbate the ordeal of respite care recipients and their carers, as if they didn'tface enough challenges.

These politicians should go down in history for having managed to reverse theRobin Hood principle: They have taken from those most in need and redistributedfinancial resources to the bloodstock industry!

Does gambling on horses and greyhounds rate higher with them than peoplewhose lives depend so profoundly on the support and loving care of their fellow

human beings?

John Fitzgerald



4

WE HAVE A CONFUSED ATTITUDETO ANIMAL WELFARE

Irish Examiner, December 08, 2012

We have a strange and confused attitude to animal welfare in this country.

A man has recently been sentenced to four months detention for throwing ahomeless man’s pet rabbit into the Liffey. I have no problem with that. But it comesin the middle of the coursing season, during which thousands of hares are capturedin the wild and then forced to run from pairs of hyped-up greyhounds for "sport".

The man in the pet rabbit case pleaded guilty to the charge of "animal cruelty andtorture". Surely that description applies equally to what happens in hare coursing?

How bizarre that a court can punish a citizen for cruelty to a rabbit in the middle ofDublin while our government condones and permits the worst form of "bunnybashing".

John Fitzgerald



5

PROTECTING THE IRISH HAREIrish Times, October 25, 2012

While welcoming Minister for Arts and Heritage Jimmy Deenihan’sconsideration of a ban on the hunting of Kerry red deer and the curlew, I

would urge him to go a step further, because this is the same Minister who afew months ago issued a licence permitting the capture of hares in ourcountryside for live coursing events.

The Irish hare, like the Kerry red deer, is a precious part of our wildlife heritage. Itis, in fact, our longest-established mammal, a sub-species unique to Ireland thathas been around since the last Ice Age. This iconic creature has disappeared frommany districts and has taken a major hit from loss of habitat resulting from modernagriculture and urbanisation. Ireland’s official Red Data Book on flora and faunalists the Irish hare as a threatened species.

Obviously, the people who got their kicks from targeting and killing curlews andKerry red deer had little or no political clout, and nobody to effectively argue theircase in the corridors of power, as the coursing clubs have done over the years.

There is no excuse for the continued legally of hare coursing, a practice in whichthese gentle creatures are snatched from their habitats, and then terrorised for thetwisted pleasure of humans. Many endure savage mauling or broken bones thatcannot heal when the dogs catch up with them. Others may die post-coursing of

capture myopathy, a stress-related condition affecting a number of wild species.What have they ever done to deserve this?

Instead of pandering to the coursing lobby, the politicians might for once do what isright as distinct from what is politically expedient and extend complete protection tothe hare. That may be a vain hope, given the nature of politics, but I believe thesafeguarding of its place in our heritage and ecosystem should take precedenceover the “needs” of those who confuse organised cruelty to animals with sport. – Yours, etc,

John Fitzgerald



6

NEW OIREACHTASPETITIONS SYSTEM

Waterford Today, 19th September 2012

As a believer in democracy, I welcome the new Oireachtas petitions systemwhereby any of us can petition the Oireachtas on issues of public concern.But I would question whether members of the Committee to which thepetitions will be presented will be capable of dealing with each issue strictlyon its own merits. My concern arises from the fact that the Joint Committeeon Public Service and Petitions is, like all other Oireachtas committees,composed of politicians.

I would love to think that each of the politicians on the Committee will address theconcerns of petitioners fairly and with forensic objectivity, but past experience does

not inspire confidence in that regard.

My fear is that they may be tempted to approach each issue from their own partypolitical perspectives or prejudices, or with an eye to electoral considerations.

If, for example, an issue of great controversy has to be considered by theCommittee, can politicians really be trusted to put aside their own feelings and actin the public interest? Will the fear of losing votes militate against a given course ofaction, as it does in relation to just about every issue that politicians have to deal

with?

In 1984, a motion to the Oireachtas Joint legislative committee calling for aninvestigation into the cruelty of live hare coursing was rejected by committeemembers by a margin of nine votes to six. This was the result, despite the fact thatthe committee had received thousands of letters from the public supporting theproposed investigation and less than a dozen opposing it.

TDs with coursing clubs in their constituencies had voted down the motion. I onlymention this because I was involved with campaigning on that issue at the time. Itoffered me an insight into how the political process operates in Ireland.

I would be in favour of an oath of some kind to be taken by the OireachtasCommittee members to ensure that they will NOT be swayed by party policies ordictates or electoral self-interest when considering petitions, and the publication infull of the specific reasons why any given petition has been rejected by theCommittee. Otherwise, the entire procedure will be suspect and may come to beseen as mere political window-dressing posing as an exercise in democracy.

John Fitzgerald



7

CUB-HUNTING AND NETTING OFHARES FAR FROM SPORTS’ IDEAL

Irish Examiner, August 18, 2012

Even as we bask in the glory of Ireland’s sporting triumph, preparations areunderway for activities that have never featured in the Olympics and thatconstitute an insult to the name of sport.

I refer to cub-hunting and the netting of hares for another coursing season. Thoughneither coursing nor fox hunting commences until October, the ordeal for theanimals affected has already begun.

Cub-hunting, or "cubbing" as fans call it, is a practice whereby novice hounds areintroduced to hunting. Coverts known to contain litters of fox cubs are surrounded

by hunters, and all escape routes closed off. The dogs are then sent in to attack thecubs. The animals have no chance and are ripped asunder amid a frenzy of blood-crazed mayhem. Any cub that seeks refuge by escaping from the circle of death isbeaten back with whips or well-aimed kicks from the hunters. The aim of cubbing isto give the dogs a taste for blood.

So, even before the savagery of fox hunting begins, this pathetic form of "training"for it despoils the Irish countryside.

The gentle hare is faring no better. Coursing clubs are out scouring the land forthese iconic creatures. Nets are being laid to catch them in fields from Cork toDonegal, with stick-wielding gangs beating the bushes and shrieking like bansheesto frighten them into captivity.

When caught, they will be held in readiness for public baiting sessions where theywill be forced to run from pairs of hyped-up dogs in wired-off enclosures. Some willbe mauled, others will be injured when pinned to the ground by the dogs.

If the Government is serious about promoting our image as a sporting nation, Isuggest it abandon its proposal to exempt hare coursing and fox hunting fromprohibition under the Animal Welfare Act.

John Fitzgerald



8

HARE COURSING SHAMES IRELANDWaterford News and Star, 14 June 2012

I have read with interest letters in a number of newspapers over the pastweek commenting on the greyhound industry, some expressing concern

about ill-treatment and neglect of greyhounds and others defending theindustry's record in caring for these animals.

I believe, however, that a far greater cause for concern from an animal welfarepoint of view should be the continued legality of live hare coursing, a practice inwhich greyhounds are used to chase and terrorise captive hares within the confinesof a wire-enclosed field.

Reports from the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) for the 2011-12coursing season reveal that hares were mauled, battered, pinned to the ground, or

otherwise injured at events in ten different counties, giving the lie to the repeatedclaim by coursing clubs that hares are protected as a consequence of the dogsbeing muzzled.

That such a practice continues to be an integral part of the greyhound industry isbad enough, but what has largely escaped public attention is the fact theGovernment is seeking to have it exempted from prohibition under the AnimalHealth and Welfare Bill that has begun its slow progress through the Oireachtas.

This Bill was hailed as a highly progressive measure aimed at updating andoverhauling our antiquated animal welfare legislation, which dates to 1911. Instead,at least in the case of hare coursing, it may take us a step backwards in timetowards the Dark Ages. This blood sport has already been abolished in almost theentire English-speaking world, including Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and, justlast year, Northern Ireland. It is also a criminal offence in most of mainland Europe.

Drag coursing has replaced it in the countries that have banned it, replicating all theaction and excitement of the live version minus the spectacle of an animal runningfor its life or being savaged by dogs.

If the Government is serious about preventing animal cruelty, and if the greyhoundindustry is sincere in its commitment to alleviating unnecessary suffering ofanimals, both must turn their backs on a practice that shames Ireland and thatshould have no place in any civilised society.

John Fitzgerald



9

THE RECESSION HAS ASILVER LINING

The Avondhu, June 14 2012

Can something as direful as an economic recession have a silver lining?Many people would balk at the very suggestion, but for some members of thebovine species the cataclysmic downturn would appear to have broughtsome benefit and relief.

I read that it has prompted many cash-strapped Spanish town councils in recentyears to cancel their annual bullfighting events as part of cutbacks to save publicmoney.

Now that, for me, is a classic case of austerity tempered with compassion, even if

the latter is, sadly, unintended. I say this as a lifelong campaigner against bloodsports.

Of course, not everyone in Spain is willing to take austerity lying down. Earlier thismonth, the population of a picturesque village in the recession ravaged WesternSpanish province of Extremadura was asked to vote on a crucial issue in areferendum: The question put to them was: Given the economic crisis facing thecountry, would they accept the allocation of a substantial part of the money setaside for bullfighting in the district...to instead fund a vital job creation programme.

According to the Spanish and international media, 242 of the village's 1,764inhabitants rejected the job creation proposal and opted to continue full funding ofthe bullfights, with 181 voting Yes to using the money to create much-needemployment in the village.

I am not anti-Spanish. I'm sure that there are little hillbilly backwaters scatteredaround Ireland where the natives might also choose hare coursing over economicrevival, but its nice to think that the recession is hitting a form of so-calledentertainment that involves repeatedly stabbing a bull with razor-sharp spears andlances, then teasing the animal in front of cheering human spectators, beforedispatching it with a sword thrust.

When I think of that spectacle, and the blood streaming from the jagged humaninflicted wounds in the body of this noble creature; of its eyes bulging with pain andterror, I cant help but think that the downturn, for all its grim resonance, has abrighter side.

John Fitzgerald



10

ANIMAL WELFARE BILL DESERVESSOME ATTENTION

Irish Examiner, June 4th, 2012

With the focus on our economic woes and the fiscal treaty referendum, theAnimal Health and Welfare Bill has been virtually overlooked by the media,understandably, and may for that reason fail to impinge on the publicconsciousness.

It has already been partially debated in the Seanad and will in the coming weekscontinue to proceed through the Oireachtas. The bill, according to the Government,aims to update and overhaul animal welfare legislation, the first such major attemptat reform in this area since the 1911 Protection of Animals Act.

Nothing wrong with that, in principle. And indeed the draft bill contains manywelcome provisions, such as stiffer penalties for acts of cruelty and a hotline forreporting offences.

The problem is that the bill, in its present wording, seems to regard some forms ofanimal cruelty as heinous crimes and others as activities to be condoned and evenencouraged in our society.

It rightly carries over the prohibition on cock fighting and badger baiting from the

1911 act it will replace, but it contains special exemptions for hare coursing and foxhunting, referring to these as field sports with "traditional codes" of practice.

The setting of roosters against each other to fight and inflict pain and injury is acruel act, as is the use of a pair of dogs to attack a badger. But surely the setting of20 or more dogs after a fox, to hound it to exhaustion and then tear the skins fromits bones, is also a barbaric practice, not to mention the digging out of foxes andcubs that seek refuge underground, and the use of poles wrapped with barbed wireto drag them to the surface.

And while greyhounds in coursing are muzzled, they can and do maul the hares,toss them about like playthings, batter them into the ground, or otherwise injurethem. Hares also succumb to the condition known as capture myopathy that maycause them quite literally to die of fright.

The reports filed by rangers of the National Parks and Wildlife Service for the2011/12 coursing season reveal that hares were killed or injured at coursing eventsin ten different counties, demolishing the claim that dog muzzling protects theanimal.

I find it disturbing and alarming that the first parliamentary initiative aimed atimproving the lot of animals on this island in over 100 years may afford protection



11

to these two appalling practices instead of protecting the hares and foxes that areon the receiving end of this organised and indefensible cruelty.

Cock-fighters and badger-baiters have few if any friends in high places and nopolitical backing. One never hears of a TD or a senator putting in a good word forthem, which is fine. But is the Government going to ban thug cruelty while

enshrining in law the demonstrably cruel pursuits of people who just happen to behigher up the social ladder and politically well-connected? Gandhi said: "A nationcan be judged by the way animals are treated". I would suggest we can also be judged by the kind of politicians we elect. The proposal to exempt two of the world'smost barbaric blood sports from prohibition is a case in point.

John Fitzgerald



12

JP MCMANUS AND HARECOURSING CRUELTY

Carlow Nationalist, April 22nd

, 2012

We note that JP McManus says he is "devastated" by the death of his horseat the Grand National. What a pity this highly successful entrepreneur hasnot yet, to our knowledge, displayed the same feelings of concern for thehares forced to perform at the annual "Irish Cup" coursing event.

As the main financial sponsor of this event, he may be aware that at this year’sfixture, several hares were mauled, forcibly struck, or pinned to the ground by thehyped-up greyhounds, and that others were, as is common in hare coursing,tossed about like playthings on the course. Their terror and suffering was recordedon film and the footage posted on Youtube.

Mr. McManus is reportedly feeling a "deep sadness and sense of loss" at thedemise of the horse known as Synchronised. We would urge him to expand hiscircle of compassion to include the hares that, year after year, are set up as livebait to be terrorised for fun at coursing events.

Diageo and Specsavers, whose ad banners were inadvertently displayed atLimerick racecourse during this year’s "Irish Cup" fixture, have since confirmed inwriting that they do not support or condone the blood sport in any way.

Perhaps Mr. McManus should consider doing likewise. He is a man of great wealthand influence and there must be any number of causes or sporting events moreworthy of his sponsorship than live hare coursing.

John Fitzgerald



13

GREYHOUND GRAVESunday Independent, April 15 2012

The discovery of greyhound remains in a makeshift grave in Co Limerickhighlights again the dark side of an industry that Junior Minister Shane

McEntee recently lauded as one we should all be proud of. Once a greyhoundhas outlived its value on the track or coursing field, it faces danger. Unlessthe owner happens to be genuinely fond of dogs, the animal is likely to cometo a nasty end.

Among those selected for death, the lucky ones will be taken to a vet or shot.Others are likely to end their brief sporting careers in a more grisly fashion,bludgeoned to death with a spade or shovel: a sad fate for an animal that has givensuch loyal service to the (presumably ungrateful?) gambling community.

Ear-tagging of greyhounds was supposed to eliminate this ill-treatment, but the IDtags can easily be hacked off the bodies.

Bord na gCon has said it will do everything in its power to clamp down on this kindof activity. It should go further. Ear-tagging should be replaced as an ID method bymicro-chipping to prevent tag removal, and a major initiative against doping ofgreyhounds is long overdue. This is widespread in the industry, with little regard asto the effects on the dogs' health of the performance-enhancing drugs utilised byunscrupulous trainers.

The Board also needs to face up to the fact that live hare coursing is no longeracceptable to the vast majority of people in Ireland. It casts a pall of shame overthe entire industry.

The hares are terrorised, battered and mauled. Many of them literally die of frightwhen being netted or during captivity, owing to a stress-related condition calledCapture Myopathy. FOI reports obtained from the National Parks and WildlifeService (NPWS) show that hares suffer appalling injuries and ill-treatment atvirtually every coursing event. How can we expect an industry that encompassesand condones such a practice to care about the fate of unwanted dogs?

John Fitzgerald



14

ISSUE OF ANIMAL CRUELTYPRACTICES NOT MISDIRECTED,

DESPITE CRITICISMIrish Examiner, April 10, 2012

I would totally reject Keith Hamilton’s contention (Letters, Apr 6) that concernfor circus animals is "pure sentimentality" and that the focus of protestgroups addressing the issue of animal cruelty is somehow "misdirected", asin his view the loss of habit affecting wildlife ought to be a greater priority.

I accept that every nation should have in place effective conservation measures toensure the protection of any species under threat.

I have spoken out repeatedly in the past in favour of prioritising the plight of thecorncrake in Ireland and against the widespread snaring of badgers that hasdenuded some parts of the countryside of these nocturnal creatures.

But conservation and animal welfare are two separate issues.

If our legislators had considered badger baiting from only a conservationist point ofview this appalling blood sport would still be legal, because at no time did it haveany significant impact on the overall badger population.

The numbers tortured and savaged to death in the pits represented a tinypercentage of Ireland’s badger stocks.

It was banned on clearly defined animal welfare grounds, and not from anymisguided feelings of sentimentality, to eliminate an act of cruelty that very fewpeople would now condone or advocate as a legitimate sporting practice.

The objection to hare coursing and zoos is likewise based on well-founded concernfor the welfare of the animals used.

There is abundant evidence that animals in circuses are ill-treated, apart altogetherfrom the unnatural confinement and restrictions they endure, and the group Irepresent has numerous videos of hare coursing events showing hares beingbattered, mauled, and tossed about by the muzzled greyhounds.

Film footage of the "Irish Cup" event held in February is a case in point.

The scenes of mind-boggling cruelty captured leave little to the imagination. One’s

reaction to such evidence is not characterised by sentimentalism, but by one’scommon human decency and a genuine concern for the welfare of animals.



15

The ill-treatment of hares in coursing and of captive wildlife in circuses may havelittle relevance to the question of habitat loss affecting these species, but I wouldcontend that any civilised society should outlaw such demonstrably cruel practicesregardless of whether the victims are domesticated or wild.

John Fitzgerald



16

NOTHING AS LOVELY AS A TREEIrish Independent, September 29 2011

Offaly woman Teresa Treacy deserves an award instead of a prison term forher courage and tenacity in resisting the ESB's move to cut down her

beloved trees.

The evergreens, oak, ash and birch that she has tended to are more than justlumps of inert or lifeless matter. They are among our most precious resources onthis planet.

They beautify any landscape and lend character to even the dullest countrifiedscene that can greet the eye. They protect us from the elements -- how many timeshave we run to seek shelter underneath a tree, confident that the loving canopy ofits leaves and branches would save us from a ducking?

I think of the song often sung by the legendary Irish tenor John McCormack: "I thinkthat I shall never see, a poem lovely as tree."

And trees act as the lungs of our planet, in reducing the level of air pollution,sucking in carbon dioxide and exhaling life-giving oxygen. They remove substanceslike ozone and nitrogen oxides from the air, thus contributing to a healthier and lesstoxic environment.

From time immemorial, mystics have perceived angelic beings living in trees, andcolourful auras radiating from them.

Whatever one makes of this claim, there can be no doubt as to their intrinsic valuein the natural order of things. Teresa Treacy is certainly on the side of the angels intaking her stand against the tree choppers.

It's the crooked bankers, corrupt politicians and greedy developers who should betasting prison food, not this gentle but sturdy and determined woman, who hasmore decency in any one of her green fingers than all those betrayers of our nationcombined.

John Fitzgerald



17

DEENIHAN SHOULD CONSIDERHEROICS OF BYRNE BEFOREGRANTING HARE LICENCES

Irish Independent, July 13 2011

Many of us have been moved by the heroism of John Byrne, the homelessman who jumped into the Liffey to save his pet rabbit. Equally, I'm sure themajority of us abhor the act of the young man who threw the animal in.

I can't help but reflect on the contrast between the decency and compassion of MrByrne and the plans being laid by over 70 coursing clubs right now for anotherseason of hare baiting.

The Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has to decide whether to grant alicence permitting these clubs. I hope Jimmy Deenihan reflects on Mr Byrne'sactions, as he can withhold these licences without getting his feet wet.

John Fitzgerald



18

DECISION TIME FORHARE COURSING

Anglo Celt, 20th July, 2011

It's that time of year again, when the government must decide whether toallow another season of enclosed hare coursing. The Minister for Arts,Culture, and the Gaeltacht has the power to issue a licence permittingcoursing clubs to net hares all over Ireland for use in this cruel game ofchance. He also has the power to withhold this licence.

The abuses inherent in hare coursing are not confined to forcing the hares to runfrom the competing dogs, to be terrorised and maybe mauled or tossed into the airby their larger and faster opponents. It begins with the netting itself. Many haresbecome tangled in the nets and have to be killed due to bone fractures that cannot

heal.

Others become ill during the unnatural confinement to which they are subjected.Hares are solitary creatures, unaccustomed to the herd mentality, and often cannotcope with being crammed into wire cages in groups ranging from a dozen to eightyor more. Then there is the threat to them posed by Capture Myopathy, a conditionaffecting a number of wild species including the Irish hare.

The actual stress occasioned by the whole ordeal of capture, confinement, and the

terror of the contrived chase on coursing day can result in hares dying within hoursor days of being released back into the wild.

Small wonder that hare coursing has been abolished in most countries. Thetimeline for the English speaking world is thus: South Australia banned it in 1986,Scotland in 2001, England and Wales in 2004 and Northern Ireland only lastautumn. The vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly was significant, because theban received cross-party support and the arguments put forward by the pro-harecoursing lobby were comprehensively demolished. Anyone who wishes to see harecoursing end here in the Republic should write to, or email, Minister JimmyDeenihan ([email protected]) asking him NOT to grant the hare nettinglicence this year.

Let's urge him to protect the gentle hare from cruelty dressed up as sport. Thisgraceful creature threatens nobody and enhances our natural environment.

John Fitzgerald,



19

DOUBLE STANDARDS ON ANIMALTREATMENT FAILS GANDHI'S TEST

Irish Independent, July 22 2011

I never cease to be amazed at our treatment of animals. We had a heart-warming scene the other day involving the rescue of a kitten from the M50motorway.

Gardai and the DSPCA acted with great skill to ensure 'Freeway' was safe. Daysbefore that, a homeless man jumped into the Liffey to save his rabbit "Barney".

Meanwhile, Minister Jimmy Deenihan is considering whether to grant a license tothe country's coursing clubs. If they get the green light, up to 7,000 hares will besubjected to the cruelty of enclosed hare coursing.

Gandhi said that you could judge a nation by the way its animals were treated. Iwonder what he would think of us? I'm fairly sure that he wouldn't be foundapplauding or slugging whiskey at one of our coursing events!

John Fitzgerald



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ANIMAL WELFARE BILL A CRUSHINGDISAPPOINTMENT

The Tuam Herald, March 21, 2012

I and other opponents of live hare coursing had hoped the issue would beaddressed in the upcoming Animal Health and Welfare Bill. But alas the harehas been let down again by our politicians: not only does the draft bill fail toprohibit hare coursing or even attempt to make it less cruel, it contains aspecial exemption allowing hare coursing to continue unaffected andunchanged by any of the provisions of the Bill.

I am prompted to reflect on more than three decades of campaigning for theprotection of this iconic and persecuted mammal. After all this time, I still cannotfathom why some human beings wish to inflict completely unnecessary pain and

terror on a creature that is so beautiful and threatens neither man nor beast. Thehare is a graceful, timid animal that enhances our natural environment. Thecountryside would be duller and less inviting without its magical presence,especially in the spring when those famed "boxing matches" between them occur.

I have seen hares running to outwit greyhounds at coursing events and noticedhow skilled in the art of evasion they were when seeking to reach the escapehatch. But I have also witnessed, both first hand and on video footage, those heart-rending scenes where the dogs forcibly strike or maul the fleet-footed creatures. I

have seen hares literally tossed into the air like paper toys. Muzzled dogs inflictagonising internal injuries such as bone breakages that cannot heal

I have watched a YouTube video of last month’s Irish Cup coursing event. At leasteight hares can clearly be seen on this film being either struck, pinned to theground, or mauled by the dogs. How naive I was to hope that our politicians mightavail of the new Bill to accord the hare the same protection it commands in the jurisdictions that have outlawed coursing.

These include New South Wales, Australia, which banned the practice in 1953,New Zealand (1954), Victoria, Australia (1964), South Australia (1985), Scotland(2004), England and Wales (2004), and Northern Ireland (2011).

Unless the government accepts a radical amendment to the Animal Health andWelfare Bill to address the hare’s plight, a piece of legislation that it faithfullypromised would update protection of animals in Ireland will instead be enshriningthe legality of one of the world’s most barbaric and discredited blood sports.

John Fitzgerald, Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports



21

MUZZLING FAILS TO PROTECTHARES IN COURSING

Waterford News & Star, March 8, 2012

Powerful new film footage has emerged which demolishes the claim byJunior Government Minister Shane McEntee that "the hare faces no danger incoursing."

Members of the Irish Council Against Blood Sports attended the "Irish Cup" harecoursing fixture, held at Limerick racecourse on the last weekend of February andsecretly filmed large segments of the event.

It was a brave and commendable undertaking. The events card on the day, as atevery hare coursing fixture, carried the warning: All Unauthorised Photography

Strictly Prohibited. Over the years, animal protection campaigners have beenejected or beaten up after being spotted observing coursing events.

The observers at the "Irish Cup" saw muzzled greyhounds striking the hares,pinning them down and mauling them, and managed to record some of theseincidents on film.

Two clips from the resulting footage have now been posted on U Tube (others willfollow) and they prove beyond any doubt that the hare in coursing is subjected to a

cruel and terrifying ordeal, contrary to what Minister McEntee has been claimingand the Irish Coursing Club (ICC) would have us believe.

One clip shows a hare being mauled and then removed from the dogs by a manwho runs on to the course. This man is seen sprinting along the course with thehare that has just been attacked and battered. When he reaches the opposite endof the venue, he seems to drop the animal over a makeshift fence.

The second clip clearly shows a hare being mauled by two greyhounds close to theso-called "escape hatch". The hare manages to break free and run through thehatch, though in what condition is unclear from the footage.

The Minister should amend the upcoming Bill to include a complete ban on harecoursing. This would accord the hare the same protection it commands inneighbouring jurisdictions such as Scotland, which banned the practise in 2002,England and Wales, which banned it in 2004, and Northern Ireland, which outlawedhare coursing last year.

We need to call time on this legalised torture of animals for "sport."

John Fitzgerald



22

ANIMAL ABUSE IS NO SURPRISEIrish Independent - November 12 2009

The sickening cruelty to swans on a stretch of the River Barrow in Co Carlow,where teenagers stoned the birds and inflicted horrific injuries, is part of a

pattern of abuse extending across the whole country.

A dog was doused with petrol, set alight, and tossed over a wall in Finglas (IrishIndependent, November 10).

Not a day passes without us hearing about animals being ill-treated in one way oranother. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of these incidents should contact theGardai.

I blame to some extent the fact that we have legal cruelty to animals in the form of

so-called field sports like hare coursing, fox hunting and stag hunting.

It's not easy telling children that cruelty to animals is wrong when adults are seen todeliberately torture or terrorise animals for fun.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny



23

FF PLAN IS AS MAD ASA MARCH HAREIrish Independent - October 28 2009

What have hares and drink drivers got in common? Both, it seems, enjoy thepeculiar "protection" afforded by the Fianna Fail party.

In recent days, we have been hearing rumblings of dissent within Fianna Fail aboutthe proposed reduction of the drink-driving limit, culminating in the Myles NagCopaleen-like suggestion from one TD that sure maybe a drink might calm adriver's nerves and make him more relaxed on the road.

A few weeks ago, Fianna Fail backbenchers were threatening a revolt over theGreen Party's alleged intention to include a hare-coursing ban in the revised

Programme for Government. Fianna Fail strongly supports hare coursing, andclaims that the practice actually benefits the hare.

But both species have something else in common too. Drink drivers, like coursedhares, may find themselves swerving, turning, and dodging to avoid serious deathor injury.

The person behind the wheel "under the influence" is liable to end up like the"protected" Fianna Fail-backed hare at a baiting event: badly shaken up, a lot of

bones broken, and very possibly dead.

The deputies may mean well, but to me the suggestion that we accept drink drivingas beneficial to society is as mad as a March hare.

John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co Kilkenny



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FF REBELS FIGHTINGWRONG CAUSEIrish Examiner - October 28, 2009

One shouldn't be too surprised to hear that Fianna Fail backbenchers arethreatening a revolt. You'd expect a development like that given our frightfuleconomic emergency. But it's not over government policy or proposals onany of these or other weighty issues that the Soldiers of Destiny aregrumbling.

It's the prospect of the drink/driving limit being further reduced. They fear this movewould spell the death-knell for the fabric of life and culture in rural Ireland,seemingly overlooking the fact that very few people ever go out for one drinkanyway.

As a rule, they either drink no alcohol when driving or give the keys to someoneelse, hire a taxi, or make other arrangements.

So Transport Minister Noel Dempsey's proposal would make very little difference tothe status quo of social life in any part of Ireland, rural or urban. And there's onevery likely positive consequence of the proposed change that these brave rebelsdon't seem to have considered ... that it just might save some precious lives. Earlierthis month, the FF foot-soldiers also threatened a revolt, again over a perceived

impending threat to the rural way of life. When the Green party mulled over thepossible inclusion of a hare-coursing ban in the revised programme forgovernment, Deputy Ned O'Keeffe warned that he and other backbenchers wouldact decisively to block any such move.

The preservation of the right to drink more while driving and the freedom to watchhares being terrorised for fun would therefore seem to be of greater concern tothese politicians than any of the measures that will affect, for better or worse, thelives of millions of Irish people for generations.

Is it really possible that publicans and coursing clubs have more influence over FFbackbenchers than the trade union movement, pensioners, the jobless, the sick,victims of negative equity, the news media and any other grouping or lobby onecares to mention?

If so, then we can be sure it's not just rumour or speculation … Fianna Fail is trulyrevolting.

John Fitzgerald



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HUNT BAN MUST NOT BE REVERSEDMeath Chronicle, 9th November, 2011

We are very concerned at the recent undertaking given by Shane McEntee,Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, to reverse the ban on

carted stag hunting. He made his comments in the course of a debate on theGreyhound Welfare Bill.

This despicably cruel practise was outlawed last year on both animal welfare androad safety grounds.

The "sport" to which Minister McEntee referred in his Dail speech had nothing to dowith wildlife culling or conservation. It consisted of setting a pack of hounds after afarmed or semi-domesticated stag, to be chased to exhaustion and injury for thesole purpose of amusing riders, hunt followers, and sight seers.

Stags often ended the chase shaking with terror, covered in blood from head tofoot, the flesh on their bodies torn by razor sharp barbed wire or bramblesencountered along the route. Some stags died of heart attacks while othersdrowned in rivers or lakes. All were subjected to the terror and completelyunnecessary suffering of this malicious and calculated act of cruelty. Added to thiswas the frequency of road traffic incidents involving hunted stags and the alarmingcase of the stag that ran, terrified and severely injured, and with hounds in pursuit,into a school playground. Children witnessed the cornering of the stag, its tongue

steaming and hanging out, the blood pouring from its head.

This is the practice that Minister McEntee blithely and euphemistically refers to as a"rural pursuit".

It was not only animal protection groups that objected to carted stag hunting. TheKane Report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture highlighted itsbarbarity in very clear terms.

We trust that the Labour Party and Fianna Fail will adhere to their commitments notto support any attempt to reverse the carted staghunt ban.

We are surprised that the government would even contemplate turning the clockback and re-instating this nightmarish cruelty, especially as it has also pledged toupdate legislation protecting animals.

John Fitzgerald,



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HORSES SHOULDN'T BE SADDLEDWITH CRUELTYIrish Independent, April 13 2011

The deaths of two horses in the Grand National has refocused attention onthe downside of the ancient pursuit of horse racing as practised in Britainand Ireland.

It would surely benefit the sport itself, apart from the long-suffering equines, if wecould effectively tackle the cruelties associated with it.

A day at the races or the odd flutter can be a fun experience, and the bloodstockindustry is deemed crucial to our economic well-being.

But racehorses fall victim to a wide range of injuries. Driven to their absolute limits,many of them suffer from extreme fatigue and bodily strain and among theafflictions they may have to endure are ulcerated stomachs, bleeding lungs, anddamage to bone and muscle, all of which can be very painful for the horse. Wronglyadministered drugs can also cause distress and immense suffering.

And, of course, the use of whips in racing is wide open to abuse, resulting in rawflesh wounds and/or internal injuries.

Racing could be made more animal- friendly by easing the pressure on the horses.Fences should be lowered for all races to a height that is not overly demanding forthe horses.

The whip should ideally be banned altogether, as in Norway, allowing jockeys touse their heels and hands instead to urge on the horses without hurting them.

Alternatively, a padded whip like the one now used in Australia could replace themedieval-style flogging instrument that so often brings British and Irish horse racinginto disrepute.

Horse racing will continue to project a negative and disturbing image of itself untilthe welfare of the horse has been prioritised and properly enshrined in law.

John Fitzgerald



27

TAKING THE HARE OUTOF COURSING

Irish Examiner, February 03, 2012

I have no problem with greyhounds competing against each other, or with thecamaraderie and mighty craic associated with coursing. What I object to isthe use of hares and subjecting them to unnecessary suffering.

Muzzling, unfortunately, has not eliminated the cruelty from the practice. Hares canstill be mauled by the dogs, pinned to the ground, forcibly struck by them, tossedabout like playthings, or otherwise injured. Film footage has been recorded and isavailable showing such injury being inflicted. The hare is a brittle-boned creatureand its internal injuries cannot heal. Injured hares have to be put down.

Why not replace the hare with a mechanical lure as in the other countries that oncepermitted the live version?

This replicates all the action and excitement of coursing but without the cruelty.

The upcoming Private Members Bill will focus much negative attention on thegreyhound industry and on Ireland itself for allowing a practice banned in so manyother jurisdictions. I suggest that before this happens the coursing fraternityconsider making a truly sporting gesture.

If Republicans could take the gun out of Irish politics, then surely the "doggie" mencan take the hare out of coursing!

John Fitzgerald



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IRISH TIMES 150TH ANNIVERSARYIrish Times - 1st April 2009

I notice pages from the first edition of The Irish Times from March 1859feature coverage of hunting and hare-coursing events, including a mention of

the now somewhat more controversial Ward Union Stag Hunt.

We have moved on in many ways since 1859, but what an indictment of ourostensibly progressive and enlightened society that we still have these hideouscruelties masquerading as "sport" in our midst.

They are no more prohibited now in Ireland than they were 150 years ago - thoughthe country that gave us these socially respectable forms of animal cruelty, Britain,has since abolished them.

But at least The Irish Times, to its credit, is no longer promoting or publicising therecreational killing of wildlife in its sports pages, a humane innovation yet to beadopted by quite a few national and provincial newspapers.

Is it not shameful enough that Ireland still permits the hounding of animals toexhaustion, injury, or death for sport, without also lauding the fact in its newsmedia?

John Fitzgerald



29

68 MILLION EURO SUBSIDIES TO THEHORSE AND GREYHOUND INDUSTRIES

I marvel at the news that our cash-strapped government can afford to doleout a staggering E68.128 million to the horse and greyhound industries.

What a warped sense of priorities our leaders must have. They see fit to slashcompensation to survivors of institutional abuse by two million Euro and abolish thelife enhancing Christmas Bonus for hard-pressed citizens includingpensioners…while opting to prop up two gambling related-industries.

Minister Martin Cullen, in defending the exchequer funding of the nag and doggiecrowd, claimed that these industries employ more than twenty-seven thousandpeople and that Ireland is a world leader in producing the finest of greyhounds and

racehorses.

This surely raises the question: If the industries concerned are such a terrificmoney-spinning asset to the country, why does either of them need Statehandouts? Should they not be contributing handsomely to the exchequer and nothelping to bleed it dry?

Something is amiss here, and one wonders if the politics of nod and wink might stillbe thriving in the higher echelons of political power.

Apart from what I would consider an atrocious waste of taxpayers' money, I objectto a single cent going to support a greyhound industry that depends for its verysurvival on cruelty to animals of the worst kind: The dogs are routinely ill-treatedand callously abandoned when their brief racing careers are over.

Hardly a week goes by without animal welfare volunteers finding dead greyhounds;their ear tags cut off to prevent identification. Dogs are routinely blooded toenhance their performance on the track. And hare coursing, which necessitatesexploitation of an endangered species, the Irish Hare, remains an integral part ofthis industry.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is among the high profile supporters of a "sport" thatconsists of setting greyhounds after terrified captive hares for fun; a form ofentertainment that his Green Coalition partners have in the past pledged to abolish"when in government".

I find it sickening that our leaders can even contemplate rewarding such a foul andbarbaric activity while at the same time punishing innocent pensioners and

institutional abuse victims, people who were in no way responsible for theeconomic mess that the government and a handful of shady dealers havebequeathed us.



30

Politics is often described as a blood sport. At the next election, the Taoiseach andhis party might get a taste of how it feels to be set up as live bait…even if theoutcome of the chase (from office, in their case, hopefully) will be nothing near aspainful for them as the anguish of a squealing mauled hare at a coursing event.

John Fitzgerald



31

HARE COURSING ISSIMPLY CRUEL

Irish Independent, September 14 2009

As an opponent of live hare coursing, I am encouraged by the fact that thelicence permitting the annual widespread netting of hares in our countrysidehas not yet been granted to the hare baiting clubs.

In past years, the licence was issued by the Environment Minister in August, thereason being that coursing clubs needed about a month to both capture enoughhares for the first baiting fixtures of the season in late September and to "train" thehares, as they call it, for these events.

I hope this delay in granting the netting licence reflects a change of heart on the

part of the Department of the Environment and a timely recognition by the minister,John Gormley, that Ireland's hare population is under grave threat

At a time when the Irish hare's conservation status is officially deemed "poor" bythe State's Wildlife Service, it is surely inconceivable that the minister would evencontemplate allowing gangs of animal cruelty fans to scour the countryside insearch of hares as live bait for coursing.

With the species under severe pressure from loss of habitat, resulting from

urbanisation and aggressive agricultural methods, it can certainly do without theadditional threat posed by the net men and coursing clubs.

Hare coursing is shameful. Every animal welfare association in the world opposesit, as does, according to every opinion poll, the vast majority of the Irish people.Now is the time for Mr Gormley to pull the plug on this pathetic excuse for a sport.

Such a move would be welcomed by the Green movement worldwide, andrepresent an act of mercy towards one of the gentlest creatures on earth.

John Fitzgerald



32

THE REAL ISSUES INRURAL IRELAND

Donegal Democrat - 06 May 2010

From its title, one might deduce that the group known as RISE - Rural IrelandSays Enough - is concerned with the very real issues and challenges facingpeople in rural Ireland.

But RISE, as it turns out, has an altogether different agenda: Its aim is to promoteall forms of hunting with hounds, and to "campaign vigorously against the proposedban on carted stag hunting". It also backs live hare coursing. It put weeks ofplanning and organising into the staging of a pro-hunt demo outside the GreenParty conference.

Professional opinion polls have shown that a majority of people in rural as well asurban districts oppose these so-called recreations. And many farmers take a dismalview of hunts rampaging across their lands, destroying crops and fences, andscattering livestock. Ads placed in the provincial press underline this fact.

Aside from that, I object to this group's attempt to present itself as a champion ofcountry dwellers. Rural Ireland Says Enough…Enough of what?

Surely the real issues affecting our rural population are the crisis in agriculture that

has devastated farm incomes and livelihoods; the continuing flight from the land asfarmers quit; the depressing revival of mass emigration in the countryside;widespread poverty and disadvantage in rural districts; the fear and isolation ofpeople living alone in remote areas; the threat of closure hanging over many ruralpost offices and Garda stations; the continuing lack of public transport that affectsso many families and businesses. One could go on…

I would suggest that people in rural Ireland are a great deal more concerned withthese and other pressing issues than with a campaign to preserve blood sports.

John Fitzgerald



33

PROGRAMME FORGOVERNMENT DEAL

Irish Times, October 13, 2009

The promised ban on stag hunting in the programme for governmentrepresents a milestone on the road to the abolition of all blood sports inIreland.

Coupled with the restrictions on the operation of hunt kennels engendered by asection of the upcoming puppy farm legislation, this move will greatly advance thecause of wildlife protection and prevention of cruelty to animals.

For decades, the majestic stag has had to run for its life from packs of hounds,mounted riders, and scores of hunt followers racing behind in SUVs and

motorbikes. Fleeing its frenzied pursuers in terror, the stag would suffer extensiveinjuries, becoming entangled in barbed wire or brambles, or attempting to swimacross rivers and sometimes drowning in the process.

By the end of a hunt, the animal would drop to the ground from exhaustion,covered in blood and muck, panting and wheezing; its eyes bulging with fear.

And the intention of the hunt wasn't even to kill the animal . . . just to put it throughthis harrowing ordeal for "sport".

So fair play to the Green Party for achieving this major breakthrough in the battleagainst blood sports. The campaign to ban hare coursing and fox huntingcontinues. - Yours, etc,

John Fitzgerald



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END SAVAGERY OFHARE COURSINGIrish Independent - January 27 2009

Next week's so-called National Coursing Meeting will again, as in previousyears, showcase one of the world's most cruel and indefensible blood sports.

It will not, of course, show hare coursing at its worst -- part of the objective of thismarathon festival of cruelty being to display the alleged 'sporting' merits of thepractice.

But the truth about hare coursing should not be forgotten or brushed aside amid thefanfare of excitement, gambling, and much-trumpeted 'winter tourism' generated bythis event. The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) promotes the ludicrous notion that the

'sport' is natural, in perfect harmony with the laws of nature. Yet from the momentthe hare is captured, all respect for the natural order in the countryside is castaside.

It is completely unnatural for this wild animal to be confined in a paddock with otherhares in preparation for a baiting event, even more so given that it is a solitarycreature. Many hares die in coursing compounds from a condition known as stressmyopathy. It is utterly against a hare's nature to run in a human-induced panic in aconfined space (the coursing venue). Despite muzzling, hares continue to be

mauled and injured.

Heedless of the barbarism that is hare coursing, our Government still supports thisdeliberate cruelty to animals, exempting it from animal protection laws.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is one of its most enthusiastic backers. And Fianna Failprevents the Green Party from implementing its pre-election pledge to ban harecoursing.

The poet William Blake wrote: "Each outcry of a wounded hare/a fibre from thebrain does tear."

I wonder what he would have thought of our 'National Coursing Meeting'. I suspecthe would have been at one with the late Tony Gregory in denouncing it from therooftops.

It will be a great day for animal protection when the ghoulish coursing clubs aretaken out of the equation and the humble Irish hare is allowed to run free in ourcountryside. Meanwhile, the savagery continues.

John Fitzgerald



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IT'S TIME SINN FEIN STOPPEDBACKING HARE COURSING

Belfast Telegraph, 2 August 2011

I wonder if Sinn Fein will denounce the recent incidents of cruelty to rabbitsat a public park in east Belfast? According to reports, trainers were seenfeeding rabbits to their greyhounds in broad daylight at the venue.

I imagine it might be a difficult issue for the party at present, owing to its officialpolicy, adopted at last year's ard fheis, of fully supporting live hare coursing.Blooding of greyhounds is a brutal practice, with the unfortunate rabbits serving asmere bait for the dogs.

But hares are also subjected to a terrifying ordeal when they are captured,

crammed into little boxes and then confined in large open-air cages until the daythey are used as bait. In spite of all the evidence of cruelty in hare coursing, SinnFein has not only committed itself to backing its legal status in the Republic, it alsomade an unsuccessful attempt to have the coursing ban lifted in Northern Ireland.

This, despite the fact that the majority of Sinn Fein TDs, councillors and MLAs havedeclared themselves to be personally opposed to it. With the Sinn Fein ard fheisdue to be held in September, we hope delegates will act to rescind the shamefulpro-hare coursing motion adopted last year.

Ireland, north and south, would be a better place without it.

John Fitzgerald



36

HARE COURSING WON'TBE MISSED


The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports welcomes the permanent banon live hare coursing in Northern Ireland.

This represents both a proud day for the people of Northern Ireland and a much-needed boost to the magnificent wildlife heritage that all of us share on this island.

Sadly, the contrast could not be greater between this development and the decisionlast week of the Republic's arts minister, Jimmy Deenihan, to allow another seasonof this abhorrent cruelty to hares. In spite of muzzling greyhounds, hares continueto be mauled.

The Northern Ireland ban should especially concentrate the minds of delegates atthe forthcoming Sinn Fein ard fheis, to be held in Belfast next month.

The party has been officially pro-hare coursing owing to a controversial motionpassed at the 2010 ard fheis. We want it to reverse that position this year.

John Fitzgerald



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MONGREL FOXESThe Kingdom - January 14, 2010

I am disappointed by Fine Gael's decision to oppose the governmentsponsored Bill to ban stag hunting.

I had thought the party might have moved on a bit and become a little morehumane and compassionate in its policy direction since that rousing Ard Fheis of1972 when its then leader Liam Cosgrave famously took a swipe at his critics,declaring: "Some of these commentators and critics are like mongrel foxes - theyare gone to ground but I'll dig them out and the pack will chop them when they getthem".

Is the party seriously committed to supporting deliberate cruelty to animals - just forthe sake of annoying the government?

I have contacted all Fine Gael TDs over the past month asking them to justify theparty's pro-stag hunting policy. To date, not one deputy has done so.

Perhaps they have gone to ground like Mr Cosgrave's mongrel foxes, and wecampaigners will just have to dig them out!

John Fitzgerald, Co Kilkenny



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'SICKENING CRUELTY' OFBULLFIGHTINGThe Irish Times, August 23, 2010

The goring of spectators at a bullfight in northern Spain (Breaking News,August 19th) should serve as another reminder that this sickening cruelty ispermitted in a part of the European Union.

While the injuries inflicted by the bull are shocking, is it appropriate that in the 21stcentury we still have public events in which animals are literally tortured to death asthey once were in the ancient coliseum? I cannot help thinking of this incident asthe bull's revenge for decades of horrific abuse by human beings for their twistedpleasure and entertainment.

I hope it encourages other parts of Spain to follow the example of the Catalonianparliament's recent decision to ban bullfighting. Unfortunately, the promoters of thisbarbarism are powerful people and will continue to glamorise the corrida de toros,fostering the erroneous impression that the activity revolves around a bravematador fighting a bull, risking his life in the pursuance of a glorious time-honouredtradition.

The reality is different. The bulls are weakened prior to entering the ring and thenrepeatedly stabbed with spears and lances before the hero in his splendid costume

and swishing cape gets to plunge his sword into its pain-racked, exhausted body.

It will be a step forward for civilisation when this practice is consigned to the pagesof a sorry past, along with our own shameful and equally indefensible tradition oflive hare coursing, in which innocent animals are also terrorised for fun in publicspectacles.

Apart from the suffering endured by the animals, this form of cruelty debases thepeople who facilitate or participate in it. As the supposedly higher beings on thisplanet, we surely ought to know better. What the bull did to fans at the Spanisharena was a pale imitation of the savagery we humans mete out to bulls and otheranimals in the name of "sport". - Yours, etc,

John Fitzgerald



39

BULLFIGHTING BAN ANDHARE COURSING

Irish Times, July 30, 2010

The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (CACS), welcomes thehistoric decision by the parliament of Spain's Catalonian region to banbullfighting (World News, July 29th).

We hope this will prove to be a first step towards the abolition of this bloody anddepraved practise in the rest of Spain.

Catalonia will now never again witness a form of so-called entertainment in which anoble creature is literally tortured to death in public for the pleasure of a blood-thirsty human throng.

The image promoted by some tourist agencies of a brave matador skilfully evadingthe raging bull in a battle of man against beast is erroneous in the extreme.

The bull is considerably weakened before he meets the matador, first by beingbeaten over the kidneys and having Vaseline rubbed into his eyes and then byrepeated stabbing with razor-sharp lances and darts.

By the time the matador gets to plunge his sword into the bull, the animal is already

close to exhaustion, bleeding from numerous wounds, and in agonising pain.

While welcoming the Catalonian ban, however, we in Ireland have no cause topoint the finger at Spain for as long as we permit the barbarity of live hare coursing,a practise in which animals are snatched from their natural habitats, held inunnatural captivity, and terrorised for "sport" at public venues.

As with bullfighting, apologists for hare coursing argue that it must be preservedand nurtured because it is part of our "tradition", as if that could justify organisedbarbarism.

That pathetic excuse didn't convince a majority of the members of the Catalonianparliament, and neither should it hold sway in Dail Eireann. Let's follow Catalonia'sexample by banning a blood sport that shames our nation. - Yours, etc,

John Fitzgerald



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WHEN WILL WE FINALLY SEE ANEND TO BLOOD SPORTS?

Irish Examiner, December 21, 2010

All God's creatures have a place in the choir. So sang the late Liam Clancyand Tommy Makem.

Unfortunately, it seems that some creatures have been dropped from theensemble.

The Department of the Environment has imposed a temporary ban on the shootingof game birds, effective until December 30, owing to severe weather conditions.While this brief respite from man's inhumanity is welcome, there is to be no let-up inthe hounding of foxes and hares.

Foxes will continue to be chased to exhaustion and agonising death over thefestive season. And the gentle hares will be snatched from their natural home inour currently frozen or snow-covered countryside and forced to run in terror frompairs of hyped-up greyhounds.

As if the fox or the hare were immune to the ravages of Mother Nature. But ofcourse the powerful, massively financed pro-blood sport lobby still holds ourpoliticians in a vice-like grip.

We saw its clout and influence in the run-up to the stag hunt ban last June.

A government with guts would face down the animal baiters and halt the twinobscenities of hare coursing and fox hunting.

Sadly, political cowardice is something many of us have come to expect from thosewho govern us.

Will Hell itself have frozen over before we see an end to blood sports in Ireland?

John Fitzgerald



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SINN FEIN AIMING TO BLOCKHARE COURSING BAN


It is with shock and profound disappointment that the Campaign for theAbolition of Cruel Sports has just learned that Sinn Fein is engaged in anattempt to prevent the ban on live hare coursing in Northern Ireland fromcoming into force this autumn.

The NI Assembly voted in June to ban the blood sport via an amendment to theWildlife and Natural Environment Bill.

In a letter from Sinn Fein Dail Deputy Martin Ferris, he claims that a bill is beingdrafted in the office of the Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew to prevent hare

coursing from being banned.

If this is true, it is an outrageous and worrying development. Apart from the fact thathare coursing is an immensely cruel activity, we would ask if Sinn Fein is preparedto ignore the expressed wishes of the majority of people in NI who oppose theblood sport, and the decision of the Assembly that voted legally, and in accordancewith that majority view, that hare coursing be banned.

We hope that parties that support the abolition of hare coursing will stand by the

decision of the Assembly to protect the Irish hare from this practice.

Apart from the cruelty of hare coursing, the species needs protection now morethan ever, with growing evidence that it is under threat from modern agriculturalmethods that erode its habitat.

Sinn Fein's official view of hare coursing is all the more difficult to understand giventhat three of its four Dail Deputies and its one senator oppose the practice. MartinFerris is the only member of the Sinn Fein Parliamentary party who supports theblood sport.

John Fitzgerald



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NO THRILL IN THE CHASEOF STAG HUNTINGIrish Independent, 21st November, 2007

Kevin Myers seems to think that carted stag hunting is not cruel to deerbecause the intention is to chase but not kill the deer (November 16).

I would argue that this makes the sport even more cruel and unacceptable thanactivities in which animals are killed for reasons of food or pest control.

The stags are invariably used as playthings by the hunters.

They are hounded and terrorised for fun, for no other reason than to give a cheapthrill to a bunch of tin-pot aristocrats and social climbers decked out in fancy dress.

The widely acclaimed Bateson report in the United Kingdom led to a stag huntingban on National Trust land. That was even before the blanket abolition of baitingwith hounds proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that hunted deer undergo anunacceptable level of stress and suffering when chased by packs of hounds. This isa fact that common sense has dictated to be the case for many centuries.

So Kevin's contention that the stags take it all in their stride is utter nonsense.

Equally unfounded is his notion that supporting the Ward Union hunt would be agreat vote-getter for the Government.

A recent opinion poll by a Co Meath newspaper showed that a two-thirds majorityin the county favoured a ban on stag hunting.

And, not surprisingly, apart from objections on animal welfare grounds manyfarmers have banned the stag hunters from their property to safeguard crops andlivestock.

Kevin describes the stag hunt as a green "organisation" that is in tune with nature. Iwould suggest that an activity that causes immense suffering to an animal has noconservation or pest control value. Also it is inimical to the well-being of the farmingcommunity. It is no more an environmentally friendly practice than the burning oftoxic waste in the open or the wilful pollution of our waterways.

Carted stag hunting is not even a light shade of green and Ireland's countryside willbe a better place without it.

John Fitzgerald



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SEAL KILLERS HIDE BEHINDA WALL OF SILENCE

Irish Examiner, 9th November 2004

The ruthless killers of the Blasket island seals have a powerful advantage intheir efforts to evade justice - a conspiracy of silence. It is the same cowardlyand shameful silence that enables the gangs who organise badger-baitingand dog fights to laugh at the law.

The people who know the names of the thugs who slaughtered the seal colony andchose to do nothing about this crime are just as guilty from an ethical point of view.They would do well to remember that the type of person who inflicts the kind ofsadistic cruelty that occurred off the coast of Kerry is quite liable to commit seriouscrimes of violence against human beings.

I appeal to the silent protectors of the seal killers to pick up their phones andcontact either the Gardaí or the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

John Fitzgerald



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WHY WE SHOULD BANFOX HUNTING

Irish Independent, 22nd November 2004

At last, it's happened: the land that invented, and for centuries eulogised, thehounding and tearing apart of foxes and other animals for fun has nowoutlawed this obscenity.

The banning of fox hunting and hare coursing in Britain is not just a massive boostto the cause of animal welfare. It is equally a triumph for democracy - the lawprotecting foxes from organised sadism was opposed by the un-elected House ofLords, whose members have no democratic mandate from the people of Britain...

Opponents of the ban who argue that it represents a form of political correctness

overlook the fact that opposition to hunting with hounds has been around for a verylong time. St Augustine decried it as barbarism and Sir Thomas More, martyred forhis brave stance against Henry VIII, made his views on blood sports known in hisclassic work Utopia, published in 1516. He described recreational hunting andcoursing of animals as the 'lowest, vilest, and most abject butchery'.

The ideal or 'Utopian' society would ban these activities completely, he felt...Evenas compassionate people in the UK celebrate the demise of Dark Age savagery,Irish hunts are chasing, tormenting and disembowelling foxes nationwide.

The majestic Irish stags are still fair game for packs of idiots in circus outfits whoget a thrill from chasing them through briars, brambles and ditches, and acrossrivers; and who exult in the sight of these fine creatures being humbled andreduced to panting, petrified hulks of bleeding flesh, with eyes bulging from theirheads in sheer terror."

John Fitzgerald



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THE FUTURE OF THE HARE ISTHREATENED BY COURSING AND

HUNTING ACTIVITIESKilkenny Advertiser, 4th October 2006

With a new coursing season about to commence, I hope Minister Dick Rochewill take action against coursing clubs that net hares in breach of licensingconditions.

A coursing club in the midlands was recently caught red-handed in the act ofcapturing hares outside the time-frame permitted by law. A wildlife officer found anumber of terrified captives in the grounds of the club concerned before September1st, the date from which netting was permitted.

This might seem like nit-picking on my part, given that I am opposed to harecoursing itself and not just to technical violations by clubs of the various rules andconditions. However, this is not the case. While concerned at the obvious cruelty ofcoursing, I am equally cognisant of the fact that the future of the Irish hare as aspecies is threatened by coursing and hunting activities, in addition to the threat itfaces from rampant urbanisation and modern farming.

The reason coursing clubs need to net hares out of season is that the animals have

become very scarce in some parts of Ireland. This increases the pressure on clubsto capture them in sufficient numbers.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has designated the hare as a "species ofthe highest conservation concern".

Minister Roche should take a cue from the Northern Ireland Environment Minister,who has imposed a total suspension on netting of hares for coursing. This actionwas taken after a survey of the hare population in Ulster showed that the specieswas under severe threat from multiple factors, including the activities of coursingclubs.

As there is no evidence to indicate that hares recognise the border, we can safelyassume that the Republic's hares are in as much trouble from a conservation pointof view as the ones that frolic in the glens of Antrim or the fields of South Armagh.

Despite this obvious threat confronting an animal celebrated in Irish myth andfolklore, the government sees fit to allow another coursing season. Upwards of7,000 hares will be captured nationwide for bait. Some will die a lingering death

from internal injuries - the hare is a brittle-boned creature. Some will die unseen inthe wild after release. Others will expire in front of a human audience...sobbing like



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babies in their hour of death, their bulging eyes spouting blood and water ontofreshly cut grass.

Others will twist and turn and dodge in a desperate bid to escape. Others again willbe tossed high into the air to loud applause.

Some day a courageous and humane government will ban coursing. In themeantime, I hope the Minister will at least give the hares a break.

He can halt the licensing of clubs that break the law (inadequate though it is) intheir abuse of our hare population.

John Fitzgerald, Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports, Callan, Co Kilkenny.



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WE MUST RALLY TO DEFENCE OFTHE CORNCRAKE AND HARE

Irish Examiner, October 11, 2010

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) deserves credit for itsdedication to conserving the corncrake.

The cost of the project might seem exorbitant at around Eur400,000 spent lastyear, but this has to be set against the implications of losing a much-loved bird thatis a prized part of our culture and ecosystem.

In times past, the distinctive and then familiar call of the corncrake heralded thearrival of summer. The bird was for generations a welcome dweller in hay meadowsnationwide.

Now just 133 of these cherished avian singers remain to grace our naturalenvironment.

Shortage of cover due to intensive farming is the main threat to its survival, but Ifear a cynical attitude to wildlife conservation grounded in ignorance may hasten itsdemise. Public awareness campaigns are essential to promote an understandingand appreciation of our wildlife heritage.

Another native species that is threatened, though not as severely as the corncrake,is the Irish Hare. It is in full retreat from modern agriculture, especially themonocultural swathes of grass and cereals that decimate its habitat.

Once growth falls below a height of about 25 to 30 centimetres it is of no use to thehare. This level of cover represents a virtual desert to the animal. And thewholesale removal or destruction of hedges adds to its predicament.

Coupled with this challenge, the species faces the annual netting of around 7,000hares for coursing.

The problem is not the number of hares killed outright at coursing events, but theeffects of capture myopathy, a stress-related condition to which a number of wildmammal species, including hares, are susceptible.

Hares may die at any stage of their ordeal, from the moment they are snatchedfrom their natural habitats and held captive for weeks, right up to the day they aresubjected to the terror of live baiting in the parks, or after the coursing events, whenthe animals (excluding those killed or visibly injured by the greyhounds) are

released back into the wild. The NPWS concedes that the species is underpressure. In its submission to the Convention on Biological Diversity last May, it



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declared that the Irish Hare is "experiencing pressure from loss of suitable habitatand consequently its status is considered poor".

Another NPWS document stresses the need to ascertain the "reproductive viabilityof hares post-coursing and the impact on local population demographics of hareremoval and return".

Now is the time to put in place a comprehensive scheme for the protection of theIrish Hare. The co-operation of farmers and other landowners would need to beenlisted to restrict activities that lead to erosion or destruction of habitat.

A ban on hare coursing would cost nothing to the exchequer.

If we fail to address the plight of the Irish Hare, this iconic creature some day couldbecome as rare a sight in our countryside as the treasured corncrake.

John Fitzgerald



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PAUL CARBERRY AND HUNTINGIrish Independent, 24th September 2007

Mr [Paul] Carberry may be an Irish racing icon, but his waffling romanticiseddepiction of stag hunting is an assault on reality.

He defends it as a delightfully humane pastime, one that is vital to the success ofour horse racing and equestrian industries.

The Ward Union Hunt could easily switch to drag hunting, in which a false scent islaid for the hounds to follow, and still provide an exciting day out for riders and huntfollowers.

The horses would still jump ditches; the hunters could dress the same, blow theirhorns as loudly and shout Tally-ho.

The only difference would be that a majestic and defenceless creature wasn'thounded for kicks."

John Fitzgerald



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PREGNANT HARESAnimal Voice, September 2005

This year, thanks to a new rule, coursing clubs cannot legally capturepregnant hares for coursing, though female hares can still be coursed at all

baiting events.

Minister Dick Roche obviously believes that coursing clubs can be trusted to leaveexpectant female hares in peace when they trawl the fields in search of live bait.

Perhaps his department will make scanners available to the ever so sensitivenature lovers who conduct these netting operations so that they will not takepregnant hares into captivity.

John Fitzgerald



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BACKBENCH REVOLT ONSTAG HUNTING

The Irish Times, June 29, 2010

Reading through a transcript of the Dail debate on stage two of the Wildlife(Amendment) Bill which proposes a ban on stag hunting, I am reminded ofthe moves to ban bull- and bear-baiting in Britain in the early 1800s.

When MP for Galway Richard Martin introduced his Bill to abolish the two bloodsports, supporters of these activities subjected him to almost-non stopinterruptions, accused him of attacking the "harmless and manly sports of thecountryside", and of seeking to deprive decent citizens of their time-honouredrecreations.

They heaped praise on bull- and bear-baiting, enlarging on the benefits such "fieldsports" brought to society and even, they claimed, to the animals themselves since,they argued, the bulls and bears would die of some other, less humane cause if thesportspeople did not dispatch them via the baiting dens.

Pro-baiting MPs warned that the baiting ban would result in people losing theirlivelihoods, thus causing endless hardship to countless innocent families and to thecommunities in which the baiting thrived.

Sound familiar? MPs opposed to the ban also said it would represent the "thin endof the wedge". That prediction proved true to an extent, because the abolition ofbull- and bear-baiting was followed by similar bans on cock-fighting and badger-baiting. More than a century and a half later, in 2004, the British parliament bannedhare coursing, fox hunting, and stag hunting.

And only last week, the Northern Ireland Assembly voted to ban hare coursing.

So I believe Minister for the Environment John Gormley has history on his side. Heneeds to remain focused on the proven fact that stag hunting is about terrorisingdeer for fun, and not be swayed by the plethora of excuses and feeble argumentsput forward by opponents of the Bill.

John Fitzgerald



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HOUNDING WILD DOGSFOR 'SPORT'Irish Times, January 3, 2012

Your festive picture of a St Stephen's Day fox hunt (Home News, December26th 27th) calls to mind Oscar Wilde's reference to this bloodsport as the"unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable". Not that I feel altogethercomfortable with this description, bearing in mind that the writer was notalluding to the cruel nature of the pastime but rather to his distaste for aparticular social milieu or set of attitudes that he found distasteful.

I see nothing wrong with any aspect of what is captured in your paper's photographof a hunt, as I have no objection to people riding horses, or galloping acrosscountry behind packs of hounds, or indeed to the colourful pageantry of the hunt

itself.

What I and many other Irish people oppose is hunts hounding a wild dog - the fox -to exhaustion and death for "sport". Or the blooding of novice hounds on fox cubs.Or the use of spades, terriers, and poles wrapped with barbed wire to unearthfoxes that have sought refuge underground. One can enjoy almost every aspect ofthe traditional hunting experience, including the wonderful pomp and ceremony, bychasing an artificial scent or "drag". The experience is almost identical, but minusthe terror and distress inflicted on a hunted animal.

Drag hunting provides an ideal alternative to live animal baiting. In contrast with itsbloody and shameful "country cousin", this equestrian pursuit might be termed "thetruly sporting in full pursuit of the uncatchable". - Yours, etc,

John Fitzgerald



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MATADOR GORING UNDERLINESCRUELTY IN BLOOD SPORTS

Galway Advertiser, October 13, 2011

Are there no depths to which we humans won't sink when it comes to ill-treating animals?

According to media reports, spectators at a bullfight in the Spanish city of Zaragoza(on October 7) screamed in horror when a bull pinned the matador to the groundand gored him. He suffered eye, bone, muscle, and skin damage and had toreceive plastic surgery in a five-hour operation to repair his face.

Yet, while understandably shocked by this incident, the fans had not displayed anysimilar empathy for the bull's plight. Before it attacked the matador, the bull had

been lanced and speared several times and the razor sharp objects dangled fromits torn, bleeding, and exhausted body.

The crowd in the stadium had been loudly cheering and shaking with heartylaughter throughout the bull's pain-racked ordeal. There was no shocked collectiveintake of breath when each of the stabbing implements was thrust into its flesh.One wonders if we have come all that far since the days of the blood-soakedcoliseum.

Not that we in Ireland can lecture the Spaniards about animal welfare. Here, we stillhave public exhibitions of cruelty to animals organised nationwide by more than 70coursing clubs. The captive hares are terrorised, mauled, and tossed about bydogs within the confines of a wired enclosure.

The hare, unlike the bull, is utterly defenceless, a timid creature that poses nothreat to humans nor indeed to other animals. But like the bull, it serves as a merepawn in a one-sided game of terror and suffering staged for the amusement ofhuman beings. Among the supporters of this barbarism are clergy and seniorpoliticians.

But there may be hope for the animals. Just a fortnight before the goring of thematador in Zaragoza, Catalonia witnessed its last ever bullfight. It is now banned inthat region of Spain, as hare coursing has been banned in Northern Ireland sinceFebruary of this year.

However long it takes, I believe we should press for the abolition of blood sportsworldwide. Animal cruelties aside, these relics of a dark past demean all of us andundermine our status as the "higher beings" on this planet.

John Fitzgerald



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DRAG COURSING IS THE ANSWERTO THE ABUSE OF HARES

Kilkenny Advertiser, 27th September 2007

Damien O'Shea writes about the lovely treatment he says the hares receivefrom the sensitive and caring coursing clubs: worming, vaccination, specialtraining, and even protection by virtue of the greyhounds being muzzled. Hesays hares are released "in a healthier state" after each coursing event.

Unfortunately, Damien's rose-tinted view of this blood sport is flawed. The abuse ofthis gentle creature commences from the moment it is snatched from its naturalhome in the countryside. Many hares become entangled in the nets used tocapture them.

These injured animals are worthless from a coursing club's point of view and aretherefore killed on the spot or handed over for "blooding", a practice whereby dogsare trained by feeding them live bait.

After netting, hares not injured in the process are held captive in crampedcompounds. To them, this is an alien environment, as the hare is a solitary creaturethat lacks the herd instinct. Many hares die in captivity, from sickness and disease.

The so-called "training" of hares is also against nature, as these are wild animals

that normally would not be forced to run in a straight line the way the coursing clubscompel them to do.

Muzzling of greyhounds was supposed to eliminate cruelty from coursing. Inpractise, it has just rendered it less visible. Prior to muzzling, we had thosedramatic tug of war scenes in which hares were pulled asunder by competing dogs.This was "in your face" cruelty.

Now, the hares are mauled or struck by the dogs at coursing events, and insteaddie from injuries that often may not be visible to the naked human eye. The hare isa brittle boned creature, and any forceful contact with a greyhound, let alone amauling, effectively signs its death warrant.

Damien tells me I know nothing about coursing. In fact, I have studied the subjectvery thoroughly, in addition to attending a large number of meetings over thedecades. I am especially familiar with the Carlow event to which he kindly invitesme.

In the last coursing season, wildlife rangers who attended 23 fixtures witnessed

cruelty to hares at every one of these. Some of the hares injured in the so-called"sport" were left to die overnight, instead of being dispatched earlier in the day.Nothing very healthy about that.



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I won't be taking up Damien's invitation this year, but I'll make a promise. When thelive lure is taken out of this practice, and clubs transfer to drag coursing, I will bedelighted to attend the Carlow event or any other coursing fixture. In drag coursing,a mechanical lure replaces the hare.

This sport replicates all the fun and excitement of live coursing without the cruelty.Already it has proven a big success in Australia, where people who once opposedthe live version now happily support this humane animal friendly alternative.

With drag coursing, everyone's a winner. No need for muzzles, or wildlife rangers,and no protests.

I suggest that one of the first dogs to see action if and when it sees the light of dayin Ireland should be called: "Anti's Choice"!

John Fitzgerald



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THE REAL ISSUES INRURAL IRELAND

Donegal Democrat, 6th May 2010

From its title, one might deduce that the group known as RISE - Rural IrelandSays Enough - is concerned with the very real issues and challenges facingpeople in rural Ireland.

But RISE, as it turns out, has an altogether different agenda: Its aim is to promoteall forms of hunting with hounds, and to "campaign vigorously against the proposedban on carted stag hunting". It also backs live hare coursing. It put weeks ofplanning and organising into the staging of a pro-hunt demo outside the GreenParty conference.

Professional opinion polls have shown that a majority of people in rural as well asurban districts oppose these so-called recreations. And many farmers take a dismalview of hunts rampaging across their lands, destroying crops and fences, andscattering livestock. Ads placed in the provincial press underline this fact.

Aside from that, I object to this group's attempt to present itself as a champion ofcountry dwellers. Rural Ireland Says Enough…Enough of what?

Surely the real issues affecting our rural population are the crisis in agriculture that

has devastated farm incomes and livelihoods; the continuing flight from the land asfarmers quit; the depressing revival of mass emigration in the countryside;widespread poverty and disadvantage in rural districts; the fear and isolation ofpeople living alone in remote areas; the threat of closure hanging over many ruralpost offices and Garda stations; the continuing lack of public transport that affectsso many families and businesses. One could go on…

I would suggest that people in rural Ireland are a great deal more concerned withthese and other pressing issues than with a campaign to preserve blood sports.

John Fitzgerald



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BAN THIS CRUEL STAG HUNTINGIrish Independent, 26 July 2007

This month, the Department of the Environment will decide whether to yetagain grant a licence to the country's only carted stag hunt.

The "sport" involves the pursuit with hounds of a farmed or domesticated stag thatis released from a horse cart for the chase. Mounted hunters and sightseers followthe horses and hounds in land rovers. The hunt chases the animal across countryfor an hour or two until it collapses from exhaustion.

In the course of being chased, the stag is severely injured, getting tangled up inbarbed wire, thorn bushes and brambles along the way. Some hunted stags havedropped dead from heart attacks. Others have drowned in rivers into which theywere hounded. Others again have been beaten half to death with sticks for failing

to run.

The deer used are bred in captivity and therefore cannot be classified as wildcreatures. The Protection of Animals Acts 1911 and 1965 prohibit the hunting orbaiting of domestic animals or farm livestock, and there is a widespread belief inlegal, environmental, and animal welfare circles that carted stag hunting is inbreach of this legislation.

The only other comparable hunt on this island, in County Down, was banned for

using farmed or domesticated deer contrary to Northern Ireland's animal protectionlaw, which is very similar to the Republic's.

A few months ago, RTE's Liveline radio show was inundated with calls about a staghunt that rampaged through a schoolyard, scattering terrified children in alldirections. Pupils who saw the helpless stag; bloodied and with its tongue hangingout, were traumatised by the spectacle.

We hope the Department of the Environment will heed the explicit, well-documented and compelling evidence against carted stag hunting. There is simplyno need or justification for the practice. Cruelty aside, it has no conservation or pestcontrol value whatsoever.

So let's protect our majestic stags and safeguard a precious part of our wildlifeheritage.

John Fitzgerald



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GREENS MUST PURSUE BANON HARE-COURSING

Western People, February 06, 2008

This week's National Coursing Event is a testament to the survival, not just ofdeliberate state sponsored cruelty to animals in Ireland, but to the continuedprevalence of the cute hoor "nod and wink" political culture.

Every professional opinion poll conducted since 1978 has pointed to big majoritiesin favour of a ban on hare coursing. Britain and most of Europe have criminalised it.Yet we still play host to one of the world's most barbaric blood sports .... Allbecause politicians are afraid of upsetting handfuls of voters in key Dailconstituencies. The PR system encourages, however unwittingly, this kind ofcowardly and unprincipled calculation.

So hare coursing continues, and the majority view has counted for nothing. Ourlegal system enshrines a practise that involves snatching hares from their naturalhomes in the countryside, herding these animals (that lack the herd instinct) intoman-made compounds, and then setting them up as live bait for dogs to chase andterrorise.

The claim that muzzling ended the cruelty has been given the lie by state-employedand appointed wildlife rangers whose reports, obtained by us under FOI, reveal a

catalogue of abuse and suffering, inflicted at all coursing events held since theintroduction of muzzling.

The level of abuse varies from one baiting session to another, but the bottom line isthat you cannot have a fair and humane sport where an animal is being baited forfun and thrills in a confined area. Apologists for hare coursing say: "It's traditional".It certainly is, in one sense: It was one of the spectacles performed in the ancientColiseum for the edification of blood-lusting Romans and their mad emperor, Nero.

Unfortunately, Nero wasn't the first or the last politician to equate sickening crueltyto animals with sport. Quite a few Fianna Fail deputies and a lesser number of FineGael ones seem to enjoy the pitiful sight of a little hare twisting, turning, anddodging on a coursing track in a desperate bid to avoid being mauled or injured bythe larger, faster and stronger greyhounds. And many of the politicians who don'tenjoy or condone it haven't got the guts to oppose it.

Hopefully, the Greens, who are now in government and committed as a matter ofparty policy to banning blood sports, will take note of this week's festival ofbarbarism, honour their democratic mandate, and move quickly to seek the

abolition of hare coursing.

John Fitzgerald



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IRISH HARE IS THROWN LIFELINEIrish Independent, 11th March 2008

I am delighted to learn that Environment Minister John Gormley has moved toprotect Ireland's hare population during the month of March - part of the

sensitive breeding season.

In previous years the country's 22 registered beagling clubs, not content with fivefull months of organised bloodletting, requested and received government approvalto pursue their obsessive killing of hares into March. This meant that breedingfemales could be legally baited in that month.

Some day, hopefully, the Irish hare will be protected from all forms of cruelty, thewhole year round; but Mr Gormley's initiative represents an important milestonealong the road to abolition.

John Fitzgerald



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COWEN'S SUPPORT OF BLOODSPORTS BODES ILL

Sunday Tribune, 13th April 2008

I will not be celebrating Brian Cowen's accession to high office.

As a campaigner against live animal baiting, I feel sick to the stomach at thethought of this man becoming Taoiseach. Why?

Because he is one of the country's most ardent and influential supporters of livehare coursing. And he will soon be directing our future as a nation. He will be thevisible face of Irish politics and of Ireland itself.

I suspect there would be very many worried hares squatting in their forms right now

across the length and breadth of our countryside if the fleet-footed creatures couldgrasp the far-reaching political and ecological significance of the leadershipchange.

Thankfully, they will be spared that mental torture, being dumb and innocent if notthe probable consequences of our Taoiseach-in-waiting's stated commitment to thecontinued legality of hare coursing. Cowen is on record as approving of a practicewhereby hares are netted and then set up as bait for competing dogs, a practice inwhich animals are terrorised, mauled, tossed about like rag dolls, and horribly

injured.

Perhaps I am being overpessimistic. It may well be that the new Taoiseach will re-evaluate his position on hare coursing.

I would suggest that a close association with a real blood sport, as distinct from ametaphorical one, will do nothing to help the new Taoiseach's standing as leader ofour country. It could certainly have the opposite effect.

I hope he will listen to the estimated two in every three Irish citizens (according toopinion polls) who disapprove of hare coursing and that the Green Party will bepermitted to fulfil its pre-election pledge to ban this obscenity.

John Fitzgerald



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'BLOODING' IS SIMPLY TOO CRUELIrish Independent, March 27 2009

Listeners to RTE's 'Liveline' this week will have been shocked by the graphicaccount of cruelty given by a caller who witnessed blooding of greyhounds

with live rabbits.

This practice is widespread in Ireland, and an integral part of both greyhoundracing and hare coursing. Trainers are keenly aware that a dog is likely to performbetter on the track or coursing field if it savages a still live rabbit, hare or cat. Thetaste of blood is deemed to give it an edge over competitors.

The trainer ties the animal to a pole, and waits until the dog has been whipped upinto a frenzy of bloodlust before releasing it to attack the terrified captive. Or theanimal's back legs are broken so that the dog catches it within seconds and rips it

apart.

Blooding is especially cruel when applied to a cat, because it has tougher skin thana rabbit or hare and takes much longer to expire. Family pets that mysteriouslydisappear may end up in the hands of these unscrupulous trainers, so cat ownersshould be vigilant.

John Fitzgerald



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TAKE THE CRUELTY OUTOF COURSINGIrish Independent, April 12 2010

The Irish Coursing Club has offered a reward of 20,000 Euro for informationleading to the arrest and conviction of whoever caused a hare to be ill-treatedin an incident caught on film by two Swedish students who attended theNational Coursing Meeting in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, in February.

While commending any initiative that advances the cause of animal welfare, Icannot help reflecting that such proactive concern and compassion for the plight ofIrish hares used in coursing has not been evident in the past.

To my knowledge, no coursing club has ever previously offered a reward in relation

to any one of the many thousands of hares that have been terrorised, injured, orkilled at coursing events over the decades.

Still, I welcome this new-found solicitude for the inoffensive hare in the higherechelons of the politically well-connected coursing fraternity.

Can I suggest that the ICC might now take the next logical humane step andconsider replacing the live hare in coursing with a mechanical lure, with the aim ofeliminating all cruelty from coursing?

John Fitzgerald



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NOW THE HUNTERBECOMES THE HUNTED

Irish Independent, April 14th, 2007

I welcome the Millward Brown opinion poll finding that two out of every threeIrish people want fox hunting banned (Irish Independent, April 9). Thereaction of the field sport lobby was predictable. It has once again dredgedup the old arguments in favour of hunting that, despite the serious nature ofthe subject, have always been good for a laugh.

To say that the pro-hunting case is flawed would be a gross understatement. Itrelies completely upon a set of contradictory claims and delightfully subjectivehyperbole.

"We serve the farmers well by keeping down the fox population" they say, before,almost in the same breath telling us that "sure, we hardly ever catch a fox, most ofthem get away". So which is it? They cannot be controlling fox numbers if theyseldom catch the wily creatures.

"The farmers and country folk love us and extend a warm welcome to hunts in thecountryside", they say, despite the pages full of hunt ban notices from farmers thatappear in the provincial print media at the start of every hunting season.

"We hate to see a fox get caught, we're only in it for the chase and the clean freshair of the countryside," they say, and yet every hunt employs men with spades andterriers to dig out any fox that goes to ground, so that the trapped and terrifiedanimal can then be tossed to the pack.

"Foxes take hens and lambs, so farmers breathe a sigh of relief when the huntarrives," they assure us. These, one presumes, would be the farmers whose fieldsof crops are not churned up by rampaging horses and hounds, and whose herdsare not scattered to the four winds by the "fox-controlling" hunt cavalry.

"We rarely catch the strong, healthy foxes. It's mainly the old, sick and diseasedones." A peculiar "sport" that targets the old, sick and diseased. And wouldn't thestrong, healthier fellows pose a greater threat to poultry or lambs?

And for people so vocally committed to protecting farms from foxes, isn't it ratherodd that hunts go out of their way to introduce fox cubs into areas where foxeshave become scarce.

Following the UK ban, the day of its deliverance cannot be too far off. The huntersare becoming the hunted, and this chase can end only with the death of fox huntingin Ireland.

John Fitzgerald



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BLOOD SPORTS - HARE COURSERSARE WELCOMED HERE

Village Magazine, 19 January 2006

The staging of a mainly British hare-coursing event on Irish soil againunderlines the extent to which we have become a haven for all forms ofdeliberate cruelty masquerading as "sport". The Waterloo Cup was the Ascotof hare coursing in Britain until the Labour Government, responding to thewill of an overwhelming majority of its citizens, outlawed hare hunting forentertainment.

The "sport" that a democratic assembly consigned to the UK history books has nowbeen exported to Ireland. The criminalised British hare-coursers just couldn'tbelieve their luck when the Irish embraced them!

In stepped the remnants of our colonial self-effacing slavish Paddywhack culture toaccommodate their UK lords and masters... themselves the despised and exiledrelics of a vanquished Middle England.

There's a Céad Míle Fáilte for them when they come "looking for a start" on theIrish killing fields.

There is an interesting precedent for the influx of British coursing fans in the wake

of the UK "field sport" ban: when a previous Labour Government in the mid-1970soutlawed otter-hunting, large numbers of the UK's otter-hunters packed their bagsand moved to Ireland.

They joined native clubs and for 15 years engaged in the orchestrated andunrelenting torment of otters in the waterways of Munster. The aquatic mammalswere ripped to pieces on riverbanks, or bludgeoned to death with iron bars, by mendressed in blood red jackets accompanied by packs of dogs.

The fun and games associated with that "field sport" came to an end in 1990 whenthe Government banned otter hunting. It did so in order to comply with a Council ofEurope convention on wildlife habitats.

So now we have the hare-baiters arriving on our shores to get a piece of thecoursing action. Like the otter-hunters before them, they will happily persecute ourhard-pressed wildlife heritage with the willing and eager assistance of their stageIrish hosts.

One wonders how long it will take the Government here to consign hare coursing to

its rightful place on the statute books... along with otter-hunting, dog-fighting andbadger-baiting.



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It will certainly be criminalised at some point in the future, but the timing is ratherimportant for the thousands of timid creatures already earmarked for maiming,agonising injury or death.

For how long more will our politicians dally and dither before confronting this clear-cut issue of blood-curdling, sadistic and indefensible cruelty?

I strongly recommend to your readers a visit to an Irish website calledbanbloodsports.com. It has lots of graphic and well-documented evidence of whathare coursing is all about. Anyone who cares even remotely about the welfare ofanimals should make a special effort to lobby and campaign for the abolition of thisevil practice.

John Fitzgerald



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MALIGNED FOX BACK INTOBOSOM OF THE FAMILY

Sunday Independent, January 06 2002

With hunts out in force over Christmas, terrorising wildlife and turning partsof our countryside into abattoirs, I was delighted to find at least one littleoasis of tolerance towards the wily fox. Given the Church's appalling recordon animal welfare (priests bless hound

Sir With hunts out in force over Christmas, terrorising wildlife and turning parts ofour countryside into abattoirs, I was delighted to find at least one little oasis oftolerance towards the wily fox. Given the Church's appalling record on animalwelfare (priests bless hounds and attend coursing events), it came as a pleasantsurprise to me to see a little statute of 'An Madra Rua' in the crib at the Dominican

Church in Limerick.

A kindly friar explained that the animal was represented in deference to a legendconcerning the holy family: The story goes that one of the Three Wise Men gaveJesus a fox cub as a gift in the stable at Bethlehem.

By the time Herod decided to kill the child, the cub had grown to maturity. The foxrepaid the compassion shown him by Joseph and Mary by throwing Herod'shounds off the scent, thus enabling the holy family to make good its escape.

"Whether it's true or not is anyone's guess," said the friar, "but we decided to givethe fox the benefit of the doubt and include him in the crib. This much-malignedcreature deserves a break."

What a nice Christmas story, and what a pity fox hunters don't exhibit the samesense of fair play in their self-appointed stewardship of the countryside.

Speaking of fox hunting, I feel obliged to highlight a factor that could well accountfor much of the unpleasant behaviour that makes this pursuit so controversial.

Oddly enough, nobody has ever mentioned this obvious cause of red-coatedcruelty, extensive damage to farm property, and indeed the increasing number ofhunting accidents that render the sport so hazardous and unsafe: the drink, man!That root of so many other evils in our troubled world, but calmly overlooked in thisinstance.

Over Christmas, I spotted hundreds of those elegant ladies and gentlemen tipplingthe finest port, whiskey and cream liqueur from dainty stirrup cups. (Not anuncommon sight at this time of year, though I've noticed that the more downmarket

hunts have resorted to plastic or paper cups; a plebeian gesture that mayundermine the sport in the long run.)



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The social climbers, bank managers, high-powered lawyers and other relics of oulddecency had gathered at a village square in time-honoured fashion in readiness foran afternoon's riding to hounds across a stretch of John Bull's Other Island. Manyof them had two or three drinks before mounting their steeds.

Is it any wonder that fox hunters look so daft? Drinking and riding don't mix. Never

have.

Hence the alarming rate of mishaps and potentially life-threatening accidents thatgive hunting a bad name; the sport's 'collateral damage'. And of course the fox thathunters love and cherish as a feature of the rural eco-system takes on a somewhatless benign aspect after a few drinks.

John Fitzgerald



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GARDA CORRUPTION - MY EXPERIENCEOF GARDA HARASSMENT

Villagers, 6th April 2006

Listening to, and reading about, the Morris Tribunal, you would get the

impression that there is something intrinsically wrong with Donegal people ingeneral; and Donegal Gardai in particular. As if abuses, or alleged abuses byGardai, were phenomena unique to the north-western portion of our island.

The Tribunal certainly brought back many unhappy memories for me. But none ofthese related to dear old Donegal. I am reminded as I listen to the daily reportsfrom Dublin Castle of events in my own life 20 years ago.

When I heard about the chair that was allegedly thrown across an interrogation

room, I remembered a night back in 1986 when I sat before a desk in a GardaStation facing two plainclothes detectives. I had been arrested under the Offencesagainst the State Act (Section 30) on suspicion of having released hares from acoursing compound, threatening coursing club officials via postcards, and havingcaused malicious damage to a coursing field.

I had no involvement in the alleged offences and I should mention that I have neverin my life been convicted of any crime in a court of law. But the interrogatorsappeared to be convinced that I was guilty... My high profile association with acampaign to ban hare coursing made me a suspect, or so I was told at the outset ofwhat turned out to be a 36-hour ordeal of psychological torture. When I refused tosign a prepared statement admitting guilt – not one that I had given or dictated – the chair I was sitting on was kicked from under me. My continued refusal to admitto offences of which I had no knowledge whatsoever, never mind being guilty of,resulted in further aggressive and humiliating acts that well and truly pushed me tothe limits of my endurance.

Among the other enticements and persuasive actions used in an effort to coerceme into "confessing" to one or other of the offences were the following: a baton was

repeatedly beaten against the desk in front of me, pounding fists on the deskgreeted every denial. A small crate of stout was taken into the interrogation roomby a third plainclothes garda, and the two interrogators offered me bottles of this.

"While you make up your mind about whether to co-operate, John, you might like tohave an auld drink," a smiling guardian of the peace guffawed. His colleague putthe bottle in front of me and gave me an opener. I was not a drinker at the time,which is just as well, because I have no idea what effect the alcohol would havehad on my state of mind or behaviour.

It was suggested to me that my father, who had suffered a stroke some yearsearlier, would be out of his mind worrying and might not be alive when I got home if



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I was detained for much longer. That comment or threat was especially troubling,and it came back to me very forcibly when I read about that alleged threat by aDonegal Garda to have a woman's children "taken into care" if she didn't co-operate with her interrogators.

A fish sandwich was flung at a wall of the interrogation room when I expressed the

view that all of the anti-coursing campaigners I knew were decent and law-abidingpeople.

The opinion was expressed by one witness at the Morris Tribunal that foullanguage was the norm during serious interrogations.

A murder investigation is certainly serious. But I was being interviewed about anti-coursing activities. So you might expect at least the language to be a bit lessoffensive than when matters of life and death were at stake.

I was subjected to questions like "Who released those f***ing hares?", "Do you notthink now that you people are just a crowd of misfit bastards who should have beenshot years ago?", and "If I had a f***ing hares in my hand here instead of an arrestwarrant would you play ball with us?"

Towards the end of the interrogation, I was warned by the two public servants thatthey would "probably roll over every bastard c*** of a hare on the road forevermore" after listening to a "complete f***ing spacer for two days".

I hope, in time, to write a book detailing my experience at the hands of these men. Iwill not, however, be giving interviews to the media before the publication of thebook.

Good detective and forensic work will serve our society better than the kind ofbullyboy tactics that should have died with the Gestapo.

John Fitzgerald



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URBAN DWELLERS PROVE FOXES ARE NOTTHE 'PESTS' PORTRAYED BY HUNTERS

Galway Advertiser, July 7th 2011

In recent weeks, there have been quite a few articles in various newspapers

and magazine on the subject of urban foxes. The animals have been turningup in the suburbs of cities and large towns with increasing regularity.

Many people who appreciate the sight of these magnificent wild red dogs goingabout their business leave out food for them in their gardens or other suitablelocations. Anyone who does not want them calling can use humane repellents todeter further visits.

Others again, in both urban and rural districts, have adopted foxes as pets and it isnow a common sight throughout Ireland to see people taking foxes walking on dog-leads.

I sincerely hope that this growing love affair with the fox will counteract theatrocious and unremitting demonisation of the animal by foxhunts and pro-bloodsport lobby groups like RISE (Rural Ireland Says Enough), which depict thisgraceful denizen of our countryside as a four-legged furry terrorist bent on killingevery hen and lamb it can sink its teeth into.

In fact, a fox rarely kills live lambs, opting mainly for aborted ones or scraps of

afterbirth tissue, and a good electric fence can deter even the wiliest and mostdetermined fox from attacking poultry.

But the fox does play a major role in keeping down the rat and mouse population, aservice to farmers that RISE and none of the hunts has ever offered as part of theircommitment to “defending rural life and the livelihoods of farm families”.

Even if the fox were the big baddie the hunters swear he is, the animal still doesnot deserve to be chased for hours until exhaustion delivers him to the pack to be

torn to pieces. Worse still is the fate of the fox that escapes underground in sight ofits tormentors. Men with spades and shovels dig it out with the aid of terriers andtoss it live to the hounds.

What contrasting images: All those people leaving out food for this russet-coated,untamed, flee-footed guest from the wild, while others, dressed up in fancycostumes, go to enormous lengths (not to mention expense) to make it suffer aslow, agonising death.

Maybe some day the fox will receive the protection in law it deserves as one of thecrowning glories of our wildlife heritage.

John Fitzgerald



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