A ban on hare coursing in Ireland will give rise to an increase in unregulated, illegal hunting with no organisation taking responsibility or interest in the overall wellbeing of the hare, believes Cork East TD Kevin O’Keeffe as the Dáil prepares to vote on a bill calling for the practise of hare coursing to be banned.
Maureen O’Sullivan TD’s Private Member’s Bill to ban hare coursing was scheduled to be voted on in the Dáil on Tuesday. Hare coursing is illegal in countries such as Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
Ireland remains one of just three countries in the world that allows hare coursing in 2016. Deputy O’Sullivan has described the presence of hare coursing in Ireland as a ‘blight on our lovely country’.
However, Fianna Fáil Deputy O’Keeffe confirmed he will vote against the bill due to the ‘strict regulatory framework’ that is presently in place to ensure the ‘highest animal welfare standards’.
He argued that those opposed to hare coursing are in the minority and have relied on ‘exaggeration, misinformation and fabrication in order to gain attention from the media and appeal to politicians’.
Deputy O’Keeffe said his decision to vote against the bill is a matter of conscience, but it also follows consultation with his Cork East constituents over the past number of years. He argued that hare coursing in Ireland is a well-regulated and strictly monitored practise with more than 80 clubs throughout the country.
“Illegal hunting is completely unregulated and involves packs of unmuzzled dogs chasing any wildlife, sometimes livestock, for unlimited hours with the aim of killing it. Numerous Irish and EU wildlife laws are broken, including the killing of the protected when illegal hunting is carried out,” he said in a recent speech to the Dáil.
“Coursing is all about the hare, which is a remarkable work of nature that has thrived for thousands of years on our island and will continue to flourish only with the assistance of coursing clubs and with the duty of care they provide for the hare. It is the concern that coursing clubs show for hare conservation that makes the sport so indispensable and unique.
“Without the efforts of coursing clubs and members, the hare population would be without the significant layer of protection it presently enjoys from husbandry initiatives afforded by coursing clubs on a yearly basis.”
Deputy O’Keeffe said clubs affiliated to the Irish Coursing Club catch approximately 5,500 hares each coursing season which is roughly one per cent of the national hare coursing population, with more than 95 per cent of the hares caught for hare coursing returned to the wild each year.
Furthermore, he said that independent scientific studies have estimated that hare mortality during captivity and coursing in Ireland is equivalent to less than 0.1 per cent of the total adult hare population annually.
In an opposing view on hare coursing, Deputy O’Sullivan commented: “Every year thousands of hares are snatched from the countryside, held in captivity for several weeks, and then taken to wire-enclosed fields or racecourses. On coursing day, every hare has to run for its life. Though muzzled, the dogs can maul the animals, or strike them at high speed, inflicting agonising injuries. Hares have their bones broken as the dogs crush their bodies or toss them into the air like rag dolls.”
