County Kerry Coursing Club that staged one of worst fixtures of previous season effectively rewarded for its treatment of hares

international | animal rights | press release

Wednesday September 19, 2012 14:35

by Protect the Irish Hare

Animal welfare groups are calling on Kilflynn Coursing Club in County Kerry to disband, or, if it does not do so voluntarily, that it be compelled to disband by the governing body of live hare coursing in Ireland. The Kilflynn coursing event is scheduled to be the second fixture of the new hare coursing season that begins at the end of this month.

"Sport" for some...callous cruelty to a gentle creature

Last season, it was a two-day event. This time around, it is to be a three day event, despite the fact that the club staged one of the worst (in terms of hare injuries and “hits”) meeting of the entire 2011/2012 season. The official list of coursing events for the new season that begins this month can be seen on the ICC (Irish Coursing club) website:
http://www.irishcoursingclub.ie/iccupdate/index.php?s=f...tures

According to an NPWS (National Parks and Wildlife Service) report obtained under FOI relating to the Kilflynn coursing event held last season (on October 1st & 2nd, 2011), twelve hares were hit by dogs, three hares killed, three died of “natural causes”, one was injured and one put down because of injuries.

That coursing event was allowed to go ahead last year despite the fact that several days of heavy rain had rendered the field far more difficult for the hares in their desperate bid to outrun the dogs, and this may have been a factor in the high number of “hits” at the event.
A “hit” suffered by a hare can be a vicious mauling, or it can refer to a hare being pinned to the ground and having its bones broken, or tossed into the air by the powerful dogs.

Any minor penalties or curtailments imposed on Kilflynn Coursing Club for last year’s event will be completely offset and rendered farcical by the extension of the event from a two day fixture to a three day one. The club is in our view being effectively rewarded for last year’s appalling fixture.
If the ICC is serious about stamping out cruelty at coursing events, or even keeping it to a minimum, we believe it should immediately disaffiliate that club and urge it to disband completely.

Otherwise, self-regulation of hare coursing in Ireland will be finally exposed for the sick joke it has always been.