Wed 24 Jun 2009
Hare Coursing in Ireland
Posted by paul under Animal Cruelty
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We recently received a message from an Irish writer, John Fitzgerald, who has written a book called Bad Hare Days. In this book, Mr. Fitzgerald chronicles his and others efforts to ban live Hare coursing. Lisa and I were not familiar with the ’sport’ of coursing until we heard about it from a dachshund owner who participated in coursing events - this person claims that the rabbits are not abused or injured, but having read up on this activity I am not convinced. The dogs are now muzzled so that the rabbit or hare is not torn apart but the animals are in a state of terror before course and if caught (and they usually are) they are mauled, injured, and all but killed. After a quick bit of searching I found this quote from Henry S. Salt:
But even so stupid a pastime as this has its charms for many people, when to the zest of seeing a timid animal’s life at stake there is added the more modern excitement of betting on the prowess of the dogs. Of the cruelty of coursing, as practised in the chief contests, from the Waterloo Cup down, there can be no question. “What more aggravated form of torture is to be found,” says Lady Florence Dixie, “than coursing with greyhounds—the awful terror of the hare depicting itself in the laid-back ears, convulsive doubles, and wild starting eyes which seem almost to burst from their sockets in the agony of tension which that piteous struggle for life entails?”
To me, the saddest part of this quote is that it came from a book called Killing for Sport that was published in 1914.
The fight to ban coursing is on-going, not just in Ireland.
The book can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk here.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
Here is the text of the message we received from Mr. Fitzgerald:
Re. Bad Hare Days
Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to tell you about a book I have written and had published on the controversial subject of live hare coursing in Ireland and the campaign to protect the Irish Hare. It’s called Bad Hare Days (published by Olympia Publishers of London) and in it I recount the ups and downs of campaigning on the issue over three decades.
In addition to exploring the nature of hare coursing from my own perspective as an animal protection campaigner, I also describe the social and psychological impact on campaigners of engaging in a difficult and tension-wrought campaign aimed at changing public opinion on this and other animal protection issues.
As I lack the resources to mount a huge promotional drive of the kind one associates with celebrity authors, I am doing what I can to “spread the word” about the book.
I’m not sure if it would be possible for you to mention the book on your website or in a newsletter. If not, I’d appreciate if perhaps you might tell someone about it. The “Bush Telegraph” can be most effective too!
If interested, you might like to read a review of the book and some further details at the following link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Hare-Days-John-Fitzgerald/dp/1905513674Reproduced below is what the publisher’s promotional piece has to say about the book:
Bad Hare Days by John Fitzgerald
In Ireland the ‘humble hare’ has been the subject of great controversy. After years of an abusive sport, which resulted in its child-like death screams being heard regularly throughout Ireland, a result was achieved.
For those few dedicated people trying desperately to save the gentle creature from the horrors of the cruel sport of hare coursing, the struggle was painful and fought against great odds. The author writes about one of the ‘world’s most barbaric blood sports’ continuing during a deadly period for the hares, the 1980s.
His own peaceful and non-violent action and that of, initially, a few others’ did arouse the public and achieve what at first appeared to be a hard-won benefit to the hare. But the hare’s troubles were - and are - far from over. Though it can no longer be torn apart by greyhounds, now muzzled, it can still be mauled, injured, and tossed about like a rag doll on the coursing field.
In addition to highlighting the hare’s sad plight, this is also a campaigner’s story. The author recounts vividly the ups and downs of his own fight against cruelty. He paid a major price in suffering as a result of being persecuted for his beliefs. The gentle hare, apart from its use and abuse in coursing, has now become an endangered species in Ireland, and this book reinforces its right to be protected.
About the Author:
John Fitzgerald is a free-lance journalist and writer living in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Before taking up these twin pursuits, he had worked for almost a decade in a farmers’ co-operative, during which time he wrote hundreds of letters to newspapers exposing cruelty to animals in general, but hare coursing in particular, as part of a national campaign against blood sports in Ireland. He has been involved for almost three decades in Ireland’s anti-hare coursing movement and the present book focuses on a tumultuous phase in the campaign that had a devastating immediate and long-term impact on his life. John Fitzgerald has contributed articles to a number of national and provincial Irish newspapers and to the popular Ireland’s Own magazine. He is also the author of four previous books, all dealing with aspects of his native county’s heritage, history, and folklore.
Thanking you for your kind attention,
Sincerely,
John Fitzgerald
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