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This should be an interesting decision.Quote:
It has been confirmed that the Minister for the Environment has received an application from the Irish Coursing Club to catch hares in nets from their habitats in time for the coursing season.
If the nets were made from wicker or bamboo would he be okay with it?:confused::D
Government will be tough for the Greens. Either they will come out of it positively as voters see them managing effectively or they will come out negatively as their ethos been eroded through tough decisions like this...
Pious aspirations are great but reality can be a lot different.
Well the blatant Local politicing (?) that Gormley is doing over incineration in his guise of Minister for Environment can hardly be helping their standing. Today's nonsense would make you think that Roche was still in the job...Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Errah they're well into the flow of things already.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
http://dahamsta.com/mobile-phone-registration-response/
Bertie must've given them a primer course. Bullsh*t 101.
adam
Nice site master, I look forward to whiling away a few hours on it! Left a comment already, nothing too exciting, I wouldn't rush to check!
As for this coursing lark, one bit of good news for the pro-hare (anti-bald?:o) people came last week with the sale of Tralee racecourse, which was home to the Kingdom Coursing Club and the odd time played host to the All-Ireland, or whatever the equivalent is called. Anyhow moving to more relevant issues, it would seem there is no good excuse to continue with the live hares as its claimed there isn't much difference with mechanical ones(except for personality obviously). I came across this decent enough, though inescapably biased, letter from an anti-blood-sport spokesperson;
The Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O Donoghue, has informed the Irish Council Against Blood Sports that his officials raised the issue of introducing drag coursing with the Irish Coursing Club but were told that coursing greyhounds would not follow a drag and that drag coursing would be unpopular.
Minister John O Donoghue should take on board that the vast majority of Irish people (80 per cent when last independently surveyed) want a total ban on the use of live hares for coursing.
So drag coursing where a mechanical lure is used instead of a live hare may be unpopular amongst the tiny die-hard minority who engage in this barbaric and outdated animal abuse, but it most certainly would be very popular with the Irish public.
We are quite amazed, furthermore, that Minister O Donoghue, a greyhound racing enthusiast himself, would swallow the claim from the coursers that greyhounds would not follow a drag. We have submitted video footage from a drag coursing club in the UK which shows the greyhounds enthusiastically following a drag and indeed a mechanical lure is used on the tracks.
In Australia and the USA, where the use of live hares is banned, drag coursing is very successful.
At coursing meetings in Ireland, hares are still capable of being pinned down, injured and killed by muzzled dogs.
Minister O Donoghue and his department may attempt to salve their consciences by stating that hare kills have been reduced due to muzzling. But what they fail or seemingly don t want to take on board is the fact that hare coursing is an inherently and intrinsically cruel sport. It involves the snatching of hares from the wild in nets and terrorising them on coursing fields for unnecessary and thoroughly gratuitous purposes for the entertainment of a tiny minority..
Spokesperson,
Irish Council Against Blood Sports
One point I would quibble with is the underlined. The meets are huge events for the coursing set, very much part of their lives, like the eL for most here, it's more than entertainment. (Though may I temper that by saying that in terms of intellect and being sophisticated they'd be closer to the dog-fighting crew;)) Is this 'sport' a relic of a bygone era to be modernised, effectively discarded(which it nearly would be without real hares) and dismissed as being a part of old Ireland that we want to leave behind? Or should we be happy to let a sizable minority, and a large tourist influx from the UK given the ban there, enjoy a 'blood-sport' that really doesn't draw much blood?
Sh!t, I forgot to answer the question! I suppose I'll sleep on it, should be sweet dreams
Can't believe you likened watching 22 men kick a ball around a field with 2 dogs chasing a hare & killing it if they catch it. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by kingdom hoop
Slightly Off Topic but I believe Bertie is a very busy politician. I live in his constituency so last year he sent a letter praising himself for asking the City Council to add a filter to the traffic lights at end of my road that enters main road. 12 months later & 1 election no sign of. :rolleyes:
That's because I didn't.;) I likened the passion of the supporters.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Apologies if you were taking the mick, the smilie threw me off the scent. Go on, say you were actually taking the p!ss so I'll look stupid!
It wasn't mentioned in the program for Government, so I can't see the Greens having a free reign every time a 'green' issue is raised.
Do you live beside me?Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
I predict overall they'll increase their vote, to the detriment of Fianna Fail.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
(It would be just desserts for FF seeing as how they used the PD's as a mudguard when the **** hit the fan.)
This increase will be despite possibly losing a lot of their loony left vote though. That will probably transfer to the PBP Alliance, SP and maybe even Labour.
As long as Ireland doesnt go the same way as New Labour and other Liberal Fools in the UK did with banning fox hunting, il be happy. Hunting, fox and hare and stag alike, is a part of our culture. it would be lik banning road0bowling in cork. FIGHT THE BAN. Bloody greens.
New Labour isn't a liberal party. And workhouses are part of our culture too, would you like to work in one?
If killing animals for sport is part of our culture, it's a piece of culture I'll be delighted to leave behind. The people involved are worse than the animals they kill; who kill to survive.
A comparison to roadbowling is idiotic btw. If you want to debate in here, try turning the brain on first.
adam
Handing over young women to slavery with catholic nuns is just as much a part of our culture. Doesn't mean we should keep doing it though.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelarmyexile
Banning road bowling eh? That's a good idea. I'll add it to the list of wholesome country pursuits that have to go.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelarmyexile
Quote:
Originally Posted by dahamsta
Has anyone here ever gone on a hunt? Didnt think so. Peoples views on hunting would change dramitically if they actually went on or witnessed a local hunt.
I don't need to torture animals to know that I shouldn't do it.
That's good to hear people have some feelings for hares. Then I suppose there would be a fair bit of interest in ending the practice of, for example, packing those squealing pigs by the millions into death camps. (not to mention the widespread practice of eating them afterwards).
Or is there some type of unconcious evolutionary grading scale when it comes to getting all compassionate about animals?
Why would some people get all hot and bothered over a few hares when they don't mind sitting down to eat the remains of another tortured fellow member of the animal kingdom?
Try reading the posts you're supposed to be replying to. We kill pigs (and cows, and chickens, and plenty more besides) to eat because we're designed to be omnivores. Hare coursers kill hares for pleasure, because they're designed to be ignorant prigs with nothing better to do with their time.
adam
I have read the thread and I am quite well informed on animal torture issues.
Take a trip to your nearest Pig abbatoir or chicken factory.
Millions of Animals are first tortured, then killed and eaten, someones belief system says thats allright.
A very few animals are tortured in a "sport" but cue the indignant moral outrage.
If we put pigs into a field & let 2 dogs chase them & kill them then I would agree with you.Quote:
Originally Posted by geysir
The only purpose of coursing is to see animals chased to death for the entertainment of spectators. Its not a million miles away from dog fighting.
Torture is torture, there is just an added perverseness to things like dog fighting.
I don´t know that much about Coursing, my impression was that it was about gambling and cheering on the dogs. The hare´s welfare wasn´t considered, just like live bait.
Do the hares fare any better now that the dogs are muzzled?