Legal hare coursers are no less culpable

WHILE welcoming this week’s convictions in Co Meath for illegal hare coursing, I am somewhat bemused by the comments that have since appeared on websites and online forums from officials of legal coursing clubs, denouncing those who were caught.

The type of hare coursing permitted by law in Ireland is as cruel as the proscribed variety targeted by the wildlife rangers in Meath. In some respects it is actually worse for the hares.

The illegal coursers use dogs to chase and kill hares, and the so-called sport, despicable and one-sided though it may be, is over relatively quickly.