Protect Irish hare from from well-fed savages

The greyhound industry has a serious PR problem, but it was never without its critics. Brendan Behan made reference to it in Confessions of an Irish Rebel: “Track racing is too dull and coursing is too cruel. 

I did go coursing betimes for the screams of the hares gave me the excuse to stop in the tent drinking whiskey for to drown the noise.”

Because the dogs are now muzzled, hares do not scream as loudly or as often, but their plight remains a sad and shameful one. We now see hares being mauled, struck, tossed into the air, or pinned down by their pursuers and later dying of their injuries — if not put out of their misery by the official club dispatchers.

The Irish hare is as much a part of our wonderful wildlife heritage as a writer such as Behan is central to our world-renowned literary heritage. Yet our laws permit its organised abuse in a barbaric, unequal game of chance.

With Christmas approaching the coursing season reaches its peak as this iconic creature is hounded at venues nationwide. In hail, rain, or snow, each hare will swerve, dodge, and turn to evade death or injury. Well-fed punters, decked out in snug winter clothing, will laugh or cheer as the hares perform.

Fans argue it is part of our culture, and should continue. I say it is the Irish hare that needs preserving and protecting, not a practice that is intrinsically inhumane and gravely undermines the image of our greyhound industry.

John Fitzgerald

Lower Coyne Street

Callan

Co Kilkenny