Publishing Guide

Upcoming Events

International | Animal Rights

no events match your query!

New Events

no events posted in last week

Other Press

How Sea Shepherd lost battle against Japan’s whale hunters in Antarctic 22:39 Dec 24 0 comments

Horses Die at Cheltenham - Again 22:47 Mar 14 19 comments

Musicians, Actors and animal friends sign letter of support for the Greyhounds 21:12 May 12 0 comments

Closing communique : World week for thr abolition of meat 22:31 Feb 19 0 comments

ACTION ALERT! Contact 'Lara Boutique' and TV3 21:04 Mar 18 1 comments

more >>

User Preferences

Feeds

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Human Rights in Ireland

Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

News Round-Up Sun Mar 16, 2025 01:23 | Will Jones
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Have We Finally Reached Peak Woke? Sat Mar 15, 2025 17:51 | Will Jones
Have we finally reached peak woke? Have we developed a vaccine to the woke mind virus? Like a dying religion, it's certainly in retreat. But some disciples of Wokus Dei are still clinging on.
The post Have We Finally Reached Peak Woke? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Woman Stays in UK After Claiming He is Gay Sat Mar 15, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
A Pakistani man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman and lived in Britain illegally for 11 years was allowed to stay after he claimed he was gay, despite offering no evidence.
The post Migrant Who Sexually Assaulted Woman Stays in UK After Claiming He is Gay appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Reform Would Win Local Elections ? But Angela Rayner Cancelled Them Sat Mar 15, 2025 13:00 | Will Jones
Reform UK would be on course to win in May?s local elections ? except Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has axed key votes. "They're terrified of us. The whole system is rotten," the party said.
The post Reform Would Win Local Elections ? But Angela Rayner Cancelled Them appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Declined: Chapter 12: Theo Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:00 | Molly Kingsley
Chapter 12 of Declined is here ? a dystopian satire by Molly Kingsley about the emergence of a social credit system in the UK. This week: amid threats to have their children removed, Poppy goes missing from school.
The post Declined: Chapter 12: Theo appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network

Voltaire, international edition

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?124 Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:56 | en

"Kristallnacht" against the Alawites in Syria Sat Mar 15, 2025 05:38 | en

Is Donald Trump managing the possible collapse of the ?American empire??, by Thi... Tue Mar 11, 2025 06:59 | en

Voltaire, International Newsletter N?123 Fri Mar 07, 2025 14:41 | en

Arab League summit for Gaza Fri Mar 07, 2025 11:53 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Heeding the hare's pitiful cry

international | animal rights | opinion/analysis

Sunday January 29, 2023 17:12

by John Fitzgerald

Report this post to the editors

The so-called national hare coursing festival will be held held next week...

Last week an ex-hunter recalled how a hare’s screech, when he shot the animal, turned him against shooting.
He is typical of many “conversion” cases I’ve heard of.

A pheasant shooter for example who felt revulsion when forced to finish of a bird he’d failed to kill outright and was struck by the magnificence of its multi-coloured plumage as it gasped for breath, its life-blood dripping into the snow; and a hunter who “turned” after befriending a fox that came mooching into his garden.

I find the child-like screaming of a hare in distress heart-rending, having heard it many times at coursing events. When a hare is forcibly struck by a pursuing dog it emits what sounds like an unearthly plea for help.

Sadly, its cry seems never-ending in Ireland. A few days ago the Citizens Assembly on Biodiversity Loss rapped up its deliberations, and one hopes that the government will act on its recommendations.

How anomalous that within less than a month of this high-profile attempt to safeguard what remains of our decimated wildlife heritage the three day so-called national coursing festival will be held.

We should heed the hare’s cry and ask our TDs to outlaw this obscenity.

John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co. Kilkenny

* A peaceful protest will be mounted outside the National hare coursing festival at Powerstown Park, Clonmel, on Sunday February 5th, from 12 noon to 2 pm. All welcome at protest. Still battling to end this activity that continues thanks to the vice-like grip that coursing clubs have on our politicians. But as in other countries that once permitted coursing, we'll eventually prevail.

Add Your Comments >>

printable version

with comments

atom feed of comments

rss feed of comments

RSS and atom feeds allow you to keep track of new comments on particular stories. You can input the URL's from these links into a rss reader and you will be informed whenever somebody posts a new comment.

Digg this

Furl

Reddit

Gab

Twitter

© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy