Dungannon Club hit out at hare ban
DUNGANNON Hare Coursing Club has defended the blood sport after it was banned following a late-night vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly. A motion to outlaw the use of greyhounds to chase and kill hares was passed by a narrow majority – 23 to 18 – after a seven-hour debate at Stormont.
The ban, proposed by Ulster Unionist Party assembly members Roy Beggs and Tom Elliott, has been incorporated into the Wildlife and Natural Environment bill. It is expected to come into force after the summer.
Hare coursing, in which dogs compete with one another to hunt down a wild hare that has been released into an enclosure, had been curbed in Northern Ireland by recent conservation orders aimed at protecting the endangered Irish hare.
A spokesperson for Dungannon Hare Coursing Club, one of only two clubs still in existence in Northern Ireland, defended the sport on the grounds that it helped conserve the hare population.
"Hare coursing is a local sport with a long tradition and popular following", he said.
"It should be emphasised that coursing has no ill-effect on hare numbers.
"In fact, research carried out by Queen's University Belfast shows that in areas where a coursing club manage the local population, the hare numbers rise and the population is actually healthier.
"We work in conjunction with QUB and veterinary officials to monitor and look after the local hare population.
"Hare coursing is more a test of the dog's stamina and skill, than anything to do with the quarry.
"It has been argued that the dogs could use a greyhound track, but coursing dogs are not bred to run round bends, nor would they chase a mechanical hare. "
The Dungannon club holds a legal hunt annually in Co Cavan in conjunction with a local coursing club. The next one is due to take place in November.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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