Barbaric 'sport' must be stopped
Hare coursing is a barbaric activity carried out in 75 clubs throughout Ireland. It involves capturing wild hares and releasing them to be chased by greyhounds in a sickening blood sport.
Hare coursing and blood sports like this date back to Roman times and are a ridiculous excuse for a sport. Hares are forced to run for their lives before greyhounds while crowds gather to watch and bet on these events.
The population of wild hares is at a serious low in Ireland and activities like hare coursing are detrimental to their survival.
Hare coursing was brought to Ireland by British soldiers and ironically it has already been banned on the entire UK mainland.
This leaves Ireland the last hold-out on the matter and it seems now is the time for this brutal sport to be outlawed.
These activities often happen away from the public eye and are not heavily advertised in a public forum. If the people partaking in hare coursing believe it is socially acceptable then why on earth do they hide it away from the public domain?
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports are running a campaign which aims to eradicate hare coursing from this country. Everything they do with regard to protesting is done legally and peacefully and their goal is a meaningful one and a commendable one at that.
Hare coursing should have seen its final days already and maybe now this campaign will finally have it outlawed once and for all.
Justin Kelly
Edenderry, Co Offaly
Irish Independent
