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TWO MEN HAVE been convicted for illegally hunting hares with lurcher dogs in Offaly , in a case brought by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht’s National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) brought a case before Tullamore District Court on Wednesday.
Two men were summoned for hunting hares, an exempted wild mammal under the Wildlife Acts, with lurcher type dogs, and for interfering with the breeding and resting place of a protected wild animal.
Both men were convicted by Judge Catherine Staines, but sentencing was reserved for a future date as the men were not present in the court.
The incident occurred in Clongawny and Clonlyon Glebe in North Offaly on 23 March 2018.
District conservation officer Noel Bugler outlined to the court that, following a response to public complaints, they observed a number of men with lurchers walking in formation across private farmland and cutaway Bord Na Mona bog.
They said this is an area that has experienced chronic problems with illegal hare coursing with lurchers.
Officers outlined to the court that illegal hunting of hares is a huge issue for the NPWS in parts of the country and can lead to declines in hare populations locally.
A statement from the Department said the NPWS is continuing to work with An Garda Síochana in tackling the issue in problematic areas.
Hare hunting sparked renewed controversy recently following an RTÉ Investigates programme which highlighted the prevalence of the illegal activity, as well exposing issues in the Irish greyhound industry.
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Culture
It’s a very old tradition very hard to stop it.heavy fines and jail I suppose as an example.i would be more concerned about the greyhounds been boiled alive the hare has a chance but the greyhounds don’t.why hasn’t the government pulled that 16 million funding yet I wonder is it been brushed under the rug with everything else in this state.. shameful to know dogs from this state are being boiled alive.
The council didn’t give me a big enough back garden so I had to use someone else’s land……it was my first time to do it………and I wouldn’t lie to you……
I hunt with rifle and shotgun during open season, no way would I hunt during the breeding season. It’s simply unethical and unjustifiable. I suppose it’s safe to assume that those convicted generally don’t give a fiddlers about right or wrong…..
@Steven Moens: Are you for hungry?Do you need them for food Is that why you hunt animals???What do you hunt?
@Steven Moens: Why hunt at all? It’s completely wrong and immoral to kill wild animals for sport.
@Lita Campbell: u a vegetarian
@Steven Moens: what do hares taste like?
@Steven Moens: you hunt hares? They are supposedly a protected species but between hunters and coursers they’re in major decline. I honestly cannot fathom how anyone thinks it ok to kill this gentle animal.
@EillieEs: well a stew is pretty nice. Unless you are vegan you are less preoccupied by chicken, lamb or beef…that s discrimination
@Steven Moens: I think their non appearance in court says a lot. Hopefully there’ll be a custodial sentence but no doubt €100 fine and 100 hours community service.
@Billy McNamara: ‘hunting for sport’ resulting in life extinguishment for a sentient creature is a feature of Psychopathic Personality.
@Lita Campbell: I normally keep quiet about this type of thing. But… to be honest people slaughter animals everyday of the week in factories. Hunting is necessary to control populations of wild animals that are damaging to crops, livestock and forestry. Why might not agree with it I have seen the resulting harm foxes cause to newly born lambs. The same with corvids(crows) attacking lambs. Deer eat the barks from trees in young forests as well as root crops, grass, apples and roses. Rabbits and hares are cute but they do cause damage if not controlled. The real time bomb environmentally in our country is the rivers and fishing. There are very few fish left after years of abuse.
Name them.
@MiseBean: my guess is that wouldn’t narrow it down
Why aren’t they named?
Poor Hare has enough problems, fewer and fewer of them around these days and then have to contend with people who get some perverse pleasure out of killing these innocent animals -sicking.
LIVE HARE COURSING , the barbaric ‘legal sport’ conducted every autumn/winter in Ireland, is as bad, if not worse when the whole process from netting to hounding is considered, but continues every autumn/winter all over Ireland. This ‘activity’ is usually hidden away down laneways in the countryside and taking pictures is not allowed. Shame on our government!
People of culture!
Dublin Airport is awash with hares but they have a capture and relocate program.
The hares are released into areas where they are in decline.
Then you have these “boyos” killing hares for fun!
Lock them up and ban them from owning dogs!
@Rodney Williams: Incorrect. Dublin Airport has a policy of shooting dead those same hares. Maybe get your facts right before posting inaccurate comments.
Good to see hare poachers prosecuted… problem is… legal hare coursing is no better, and it’s supported by senior government ministers, among other powerful politicians and business leaders.
Last February, people passed by Powerstown Park racecourse in Clonmel and could do nothing about the hundreds of hares are being held captive on the venue. They had been transported there from all over Ireland, having been snatched by trappers from their natural habitats. The trappers used nets to capture these animals for the annual three-day “festival” of live hare coursing due to be staged a few weeks later.
It’s hard to accept that our laws permit such a medieval practice in the 21st century. So those captive sentient beings cannot benefit from any intervention to save them. We who oppose this “sport” can only hold placards… or lobby politicians who either support hare coursing or deem it politically irrelevant.
It’s hard to tell one set of people they are criminals when they course or harass hares for fun while allowing coursing clubs to inflict untold suffering on the same animals for “sport.”
Some day, I hope, Powerstown Park racecourse will be nothing more than a rain and wind-swept abandoned heap of stone, steel and grass on the outskirts of Clonmel…grim testament to a vile and cowardly practice that for too long shamed our country.
Hang them. Slowly.
The same goes on in Bohermeen bog.
NPWS are grossly understaffed and as a result incapable of making any significant impression on the many barbaric practises which go unchecked in this country.
Maybe that’s the way this Government likes to keep it
Hare. Today gone tomorrow
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