MILLSTREET TOWN PARK IS NOW COURSING FREE

The residents of Millstreet, County Cork, got an early Christmas present with the news that their town park, normally closed for six weeks over December and early January, is now coursing free.

For several decades, Millstreet residents were denied the use of their town park by the local coursing club, which took over the park, closing it off to the public.

Vulnerable hares, snatched from the wild for use as live bait for greyhounds, were kept captive in a compound in the park.

Last year, a protest took place outside the park, generating much publicity, with residents expressing their anger at the closure of the amenity for cruel hare coursing.

We understand that Millstreet coursing club has moved to an alternative location in Cork so while hares won’t be running for their lives in the town park, they will be terrorised by dogs elsewhere.

The vast majority of our citizens want coursing outlawed, with a 2019 RED C poll revealing that 77% agree that the government should ban it. Hare coursing is already illegal in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

ACTION ALERT

HELP THE HARES: Urgently contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan and tell them to withdraw the 2022-23 hare coursing licences and also stop the hunting and shooting of Irish Hares.

Email “Stop all hare coursing, hunting and shooting NOW” to minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie

Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD

Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 888 2425 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm

It is time for politicians to consign coursing and hunting to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to act to ensure that a ban is urgently introduced. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33

Urge Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar to respect the wishes of the majority and ban hare coursing and all bloodsports.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs and urge them to pledge support for Paul Murphy TD’s upcoming Animal Health & Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill 2020.

Fianna Fáil TDs

john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Fine Gael TDs

JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie;
ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Sinn Fein TDs

john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Labour Party TDs

ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie

Please sign and share the petitions

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/p/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Sinn Fein: Support a ban on cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/sinn-fein-support-a-ban-on-cruel-hare-coursing

Ireland – Ban cruel hare coursing
http://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

 

 

 

Pro-coursing Westmeath Councillors should be ashamed of themselves

The Westmeath County Councillors who rejected a motion calling for a ban on cruel hare coursing should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves – Read Aideen Yourell’s Letter to the Editor in this week’s Westmeath Topic…

 

Dear Editor,

 

The eleven Westmeath County Councillors who rejected Cllr Hazel Smyth’s motion to call for a ban on coursing, at last week’s Council meeting, should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, especially those who had in the past declared their opposition to bloodsports.  

 

Among the spurious arguments put forward for rejecting the motion was Cllr. Andrew Duncan’s assertion that hare coursing was an “integral and intrinsic part of the rural fabric”. With just one coursing club in Westmeath holding an annual 2-day cruelty fest every October, attended by a small crowd of coursers, it’s hardly “integral” or “intrinsic” to the rural fabric! 

 

Cllr. Duncan also declared that after hare coursing was banned in Northern Ireland, it went underground. There is absolutely no evidence to support this. In fact, the two coursing clubs in the north, Dungannon and Ballymena, travel to the south to hold their cruelty meets in conjunction with clubs in Cavan and Tubbercurry, so they come to our republic to engage in a cruel activity that is a criminal offence in their own jurisdiction! In any event, not introducing legislation to outlaw hare coursing for fear of driving it underground is a total cop-out! 

 

Cllr. Willie Penrose declared that even GAA sports would be banned, if hare coursing was outlawed, while Cllr. Frankie Keena said coursing was “well regulated”. Indeed, the coursers’ licence to snatch hares from the wild for coursing has thirty-four conditions attached, but these are almost impossible to enforce due to a lack of manpower in the National Parks & Wildlife Service. 

 

However, none of these regulations or the presence of vets or National Parks rangers at coursing meetings can prevent hares being mauled, injured or killed by greyhounds, and no regulations will alleviate the terror and stress endured by these poor creatures cruelly snatched from the wild in nets to be used as live bait for greyhounds.

 

We are at present experiencing climate change and a loss of biodiversity, and Ireland’s hares are not immune. Our hare population has declined due to loss of habitat and modern farming methods, and even the coursers are having difficulty in getting hares for their cruel game. For example, in the 2011/2012 hare coursing season, the coursers snatched 5,734 hares from the wild, compared to 3,690 in the season 2021/22, a drop of almost 36% in ten years.

 

The eleven Councillors who voted down Cllr. Smyth’s motion to call for a ban on hare coursing are totally out of touch with the majority of their constituents’ views on this cruelty issue. A 2019 RED C poll revealed that 77% of the Irish citizens agree that the government should ban hare coursing and fox hunting, and when broken down into urban and rural, the poll showed that 78% of rural dwellers and 76% or urban dwellers were in favour of a ban, so there is no urban/rural divide on this issue. It’s abundantly clear that a huge majority want to see hare coursing and fox hunting banned.

 

We commend Cllr. Smyth for bringing forward this motion to outlaw this barbarity, and Cllr. Louise Heavin for supporting it. 

 

Aideen Yourell

Campaign Director

IRISH COUNCIL AGAINST BLOOD SPORTS

 

SEE ALSO:

Councillors oppose motion seeking ban on hare coursing

https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2022/12/01/councillors-oppose-motion-seeking-ban-on-hare-coursing/

 

Celtic Tenors urged not to perform at greyhound track where dogs die

The Celtic Tenors are being urged not to perform at Curraheen Park greyhound track on 1st December.

An advert for the concert, in aid of MourneAbbey Ladies Football Club, appeared in a Greyhound Racing Ireland booklet.

In an appeal to the trio, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports highlighted the cruelty and killing in greyhound racing

“Many dogs suffer and die at Curraheen Park,” we stated. “182 greyhounds suffered injuries there and 72 died or were killed by a track vet over the past eight years alone. Among the victims was a dog who died of a suspected heart attack. Last year, 29 greyhounds were injured there and 12 killed.”

At races around Ireland in the past nine years, at least 2,881 greyhounds suffered injuries and 983 died or were killed. Many more greyhounds are killed behind the scenes every year because they are not fast enough to win races.

We told the Celtic Tenors about RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary which revealed that around 6,000 greyhounds are culled annually.

Featured in the programme was disturbing, secretly filmed footage of dogs being delivered to a knackery where they were shot in the head and thrown into a skip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

It spotlighted a damning report which Greyhound Racing Ireland attempted to hide. The report estimated that, for example, a total of 17,962 greyhounds were culled in 2013, 2014 and 2015 – they were killed for “failure to produce qualifying times”, “failure to produce desired entry level times” and for an “unacceptable decline in performance”.

More and more people are staying away from greyhound tracks, evident in plummeting attendance figures. We hope the Celtic Tenors will show compassion and reject Curraheen Park track as a concert venue.

A growing number of musicians, actors, directors and writers are calling for an end to greyhound racing in Ireland. Among them are singers Linda Martin, Kieran Goss, Tommy Fleming, Deborah Bonham, Don Mescall and Emma Langford, actors Ricky Gervais, Peter Egan, Charlotte Ross, Rachel Pilkington, Pauline McLynn, Rory Cowan, Gemma Atkinson, Aoibheann McCaul, Jenn McGuirk, Amilia Stewart, Esther Woods, directors Lenny Abrahamson and Andrew Higgs, producer Clare Stronge, author/blogger Holly White, playwright Jaki McCarrick, columnist Andrea Smith, broadcasters Robbie Kane and Barbara Scully, etc https://www.facebook.com/banbloodsports/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2315886091860269

ACTION ALERT

Urge the Celtic Tenors to reject Curraheen Park greyhound track as a venue and join calls for a ban on dog-killing greyhound racing.

Send a message to Matthew Gilsenan, James Nelson and Daryl Simpson from the contact page of their website at http://celtic-tenors.com/contact.asp

or leave a message on their Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/TheCelticTenors

“Foxhunting is, without doubt, the most brutal bloodsport”

——————————————————————————————————————–

“Foxhunting is, without doubt, the most brutal bloodsport. They take out a pack of hounds (up to 30 or 40 hounds) to hunt down really what is just a small, wild brown dog – a fox – through the countryside for sport. They do it for sport and for no other reason. They hound it round the countryside. If it does manage to go to ground and hide, they will dig it out. They bring in guys with spades and little terriers and they will try to flush it out. I have seen video footage – the most horrendous video footage that is almost impossible to watch – of a fox being dragged out of its earth and then thrown in front of the pack to be savaged in the most appalling way. It’s like something demonic. And the huntsman is whooping and hollering in a crazy sort of way. This is bloodlust coming out in certain people. They like to do this kind of thing. It’s the grown up version of bullying in the school yard. It’s absolutely appalling and it has no place in a civilised country that we like to think Ireland is.” – Aideen Yourell, Campaign Director, Irish Council Against Bloodsports, speaking on Lunchtime Live, Newstalk, 7 November 2022.

Listen to the full show at
https://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/highlights-from-lunchtime-live/this-is-bloodlust-calls-to-ban-blood-sports-in-ireland
or
https://www.goloudplayer.com/episodes/this-is-bloodlust-calls-to-ban-b-ODgzMmFmNTgzOWUyNDFjMjczNTI0YmRjOWRlNzNiMjM=

Fox hunting is completely unacceptable in modern Ireland and a majority in both rural and urban areas want it stopped. A RED C opinion poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, found that 77% agree that the government should BAN FOX HUNTING. The 2019 poll showed that just 12% disagree with a ban. Please respond to our action alert below and join calls for a long overdue ban.

ACTION ALERT

If you are a landowner, make your property off-limits to hunts. Find out more at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm

Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to demand a ban on cruel fox hunting and all bloodsports.

Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/

Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs.

Email Fianna Fail TDs

micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Email Fine Gael TDs

leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Email Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie; ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Email Sinn Fein TDs

MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Email Labour Party TDs

ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie

Sign and share our “Ban Blood Sports in Ireland” petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

Make your voices heard for the hares

“Those who care about our wildlife heritage, and the welfare of animals, must make their voices heard” – Read John Fitzgerald’s Letter to the Editor in the Irish Daily Mail and please scroll down for action alert…

Side with the hares!
Irish Daily Mail: Nov. 8th 2022

Over the past month hares have been running from greyhounds through water-logged or storm swept coursing fields across Ireland.

You could say they’ve succumbed to the effects of Climate Change, like every other species on this planet, including us. But global warming isn’t to blame for the fact that these unfortunate creatures are snatched from their natural home in the countryside, held in unnatural captivity for weeks and then used as live bait for dogs. And we can’t blame anomalies in the weather when we see a hare mauled, or having its bones crushed, or being tossed up into the air at one of these Roman Circuses.

The Irish Hare already has to contend with a countrywide decline in numbers due to habitat loss resulting from urbanisation and the downside of modern agriculture.

A “pastime” that involves wholesale disruption of its abode, apart from the suffering it inflicts on each hare affected, can only add to its woes as a species.

Coursing also spreads disease, including the deadly RHD2 virus that kills hares and is highly contagious. It has been rampant in Ireland since 2019.

With the planet facing possible catastrophe, the fate of this iconic creature might not rate as a major issue in people’s minds, but for the hare it’s a matter of life and death, preservation or possible disappearance.

TDs in many constituencies are loath to take the hare’s side because they fear the electoral consequences. Hares can’t vote, but coursing fans can.

Those who care about our wildlife heritage, and the welfare of animals, must therefore make their voices heard.

We need a change in the political climate so that this abhorrent excuse for a sport can be pushed to extinction.

John Fitzgerald,
Callan, Co Kilkenny

ACTION ALERT

HELP THE HARES: Urgently contact Heritage Minister Darragh O’Brien and Minister of State Malcolm Noonan and tell them to withdraw the 2022-23 hare coursing licences and also stop the hunting and shooting of Irish Hares.

Email “Stop all hare coursing, hunting and shooting NOW” to minister@housing.gov.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie

Minister Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fail, Dublin Fingal)
Tel: (01) 618 3802 OR (086) 251 9893
Email: minister@housing.gov.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DarraghOBrienTD
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DarraghOBrienTD

Malcolm Noonan TD (Green Party, Carlow Kilkenny)
Minister of State for Heritage
Tel: (01) 888 2425 OR (01) 618 3156
Email: mos@housing.gov.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm

It is time for politicians to consign hare coursing and greyhound racing to history. Join us in contacting all TDs and urging them to act. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33

Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to respect the wishes of the majority and ban hare coursing and end all funding to greyhound racing.

Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/

Please sign and share the petitions

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/p/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Sinn Fein: Support a ban on cruel hare coursing
https://www.change.org/p/sinn-fein-support-a-ban-on-cruel-hare-coursing

Ireland – Ban cruel hare coursing
http://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

 

€1.6 BILLION: Government must stop massive grants to horse and greyhound racing

The government has allocated over €1.6 BILLION of taxpayers’ money to horse and greyhound racing since 2001. This outrageous squandering of scarce public funds must be stopped.

The funding doled out through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund is split 80% – 20% so Horse Racing Ireland has been granted €1,312,904,981 (€1.31 Billion) and Greyhound Racing Ireland €328,166,146 (€328.1 Million).

The funding to Greyhound Racing Ireland has continued despite the results of an opinion poll showing that a two-thirds majority of Irish citizens want the hand-outs to greyhound racing ended (with just 16% wanting it to continue). There are growing calls on the government to also stop funding horse racing.

Substantial portions of the money is also being channelled into cruel fox hunting and hare coursing.

More than €10 million in grants have been paid out to hunts by Horse Racing Ireland in the past ten years. The grants for hunt-organised point-to-point races is helping to keep the bloodsport groups afloat. HRI’s financial support to foxhunts continues despite a majority wanting the bloodsport BANNED.

Greyhound Racing Ireland diverts huge sums into cruel hare coursing, including more than half a million euros for advertising in the Irish Coursing Club’s Sporting Press publication. The sickening figures came to light further to a 4 October 2022 Dail Question from Paul Murphy TD.

Between 2017 and 2022, a total of €513,842 was paid to the Irish Coursing Club for ads in its “greyhound and coursing newspaper”. During the same period, Greyhound Racing Ireland also paid the Irish Coursing Club €6,257 – DNA Fees (2017), €68,367 – Project Traceability & Scanning (2020-2021), €27,495 – Meat Feeder Licence Inspections (2017-2022) and €4,784 – Litters: Covid Support for Owners (2020). Major cash injections from GRI have been going on for years. As reported previously, in 2015 it was revealed that the then Irish Greyhound Board paid over €100,000 to the coursers (for DNA sampling services and advertising in the Sporting Press).

These payments from Greyhound Racing Ireland are undoubtedly helping to sustain cruel coursing. This is particularly deplorable, given that hare coursing is a bloodsport which the vast majority in Ireland want banned.

ACTION ALERT

Contact Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to horse racing and greyhound racing. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Minister Paschal Donohoe
Minister for Finance
Tel: (01) 618 3689
Email: minister@finance.gov.ie
CC: minister@per.gov.ie (Michael McGrath TD, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald

SAMPLE LETTER
(If you have time, please write your own personal letter)

Dear Deputy,

I am writing to call for an end to funding to horse and greyhound racing.

The government’s Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations have channelled €1.6 Billion of taxpayers’ money into the two gambling activities since 2001.

Much of the money given to horse racing ends up as prize money in the pockets of wealthy horse owners and trainers, while the funding for greyhound racing continues despite revelations about obscene cruelty and killing and calls for a ban.

If you saw the “RTE Investigates: Greyhounds running for their lives” documentary, you will understand why there should be absolutely no support given to this shameful industry. The programme revealed that around 6,000 greyhounds are killed every year simply because they are not fast enough to win. We were shown horrifying scenes of greyhounds being delivered to knackeries to be shot in the head. One dog was seen writhing on the ground in agony as his merciless owner drove away https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

The programme also highlighted the illegal practice of doping dogs to make them run faster or slower to influence the outcomes of races. Also shown were greyhounds with their ears chopped off or burned with acid (to remove identity tattoos before being dumped) and the hellholes that await Irish greyhounds exported to China and Pakistan.

The Irish public is shocked and disgusted at the revelations, which have sparked multiple protests outside tracks.

A RED C opinion poll commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and Greyhound Action Ireland shows that two out of every three Irish adults want the government to stop funding greyhound racing [66% Agree, 16% Disagree, 18% Don’t Know] Petitions urging the government to stop the funding have attracted over 400,000 signatures.

It is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE that scarce public funds have been pumped into horse and greyhound racing. It is time for this to be stopped and for the money to be redirected to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, schools, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

Thank you. I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely,

[Name/Address]

Email the letter to all Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs.

Email Fianna Fail TDs

micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Email Fine Gael TDs

leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Email Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie; ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Email Sinn Fein TDs

MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Email Labour Party TDs

ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie

Sign and share the petitions:

Irish Government: Stop giving millions of euros to horse racing
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euros-to-horse-racing

Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Racing https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-racing

Irish Government grants to horse racing

2001 €47,110,330
2002 €54,452,651
2003 €51,348,800
2004 €53,531,200
2005 €54,680,000
2006 €56,047,000
2007 €58,539,000
2008 €61,028,800
2009 €54,502,000
2010 €47,411,200
2011 €45,830,000
2012 €45,032,000
2013 €44,016,000
2014 €43,376,000
2015 €54,400,000
2016 €59,200,000
2017 €64,000,000
2018 €64,000,000
2019 €67,200,000
2020 €67,200,000
2021 €76,800,000
2022 €70,400,000
2023 €72,800,000 (allocated in Budget 2023)

TOTAL: €1,312,904,981 (€1.31 Billion)

Irish Government grants to greyhound racing

2001 €11,777,583
2002 €13,613,163
2003 €12,837,200
2004 €13,382,800
2005 €13,670,000
2006 €14,012,000
2007 €14,572,000
2008 €15,257,000
2009 €13,625,600
2010 €11,852,800
2011 €11,460,000
2012 €11,258,000
2013 €11,004,000
2014 €10,844,000
2015 €13,600,000
2016 €14,800,000
2017 €16,000,000
2018 €16,000,000
2019 €16,800,000
2020 €16,800,000
2021 €19,200,000
2022 €17,600,000
2023 €18,200,000 (allocated in Budget 2023)

TOTAL: €328,166,146 (€328.1 Million)

Source: Department of Agriculture

SEE ALSO

Over €10 million in grants to hunts around Ireland https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/09/09/over-e10-million-in-grants-to-hunts-around-ireland/

Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYTb2qBjlMM

Watch the BBC Panorama documentary “The Dark Side of Horse Racing” https://youtu.be/VlpQhJFd5Bo

Greyhound injuries and deaths at tracks around Ireland
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2019/03/27/greyhound-injuries-and-deaths-at-irish-greyhound-tracks/

REVEALED: GRI pays coursers more than half a million euros
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2022/11/01/revealed-gri-pays-coursers-more-than-half-a-million-euros/

Green Party urged to support bill to ban cruel hare coursing

The Green Party is once again being urged to pledge support for Paul Murphy TD’s upcoming bill which aims to outlaw cruel hare coursing in Ireland. The bill is expected back before the Dail in the coming months.

The Green Party’s Animal Welfare Policy clearly states: “The Green Party is opposed to all bloodsports and we will bring in legislation to end hare coursing, fox hunting, hare hunting and mink hunting”. However, in 2020, the party’s deputy leader Catherine Martin TD stated that if government coalition partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael vote against the Bill to ban coursing, then she would also vote against it “with the heaviest of hearts”.

This is unacceptable. The Green Party must act in accordance with its own policy on the issue and respect the wishes of the 77% majority who want coursing banned.

Previously, Minister Martin said that she “looks forward to a time when these barbaric [bloodsport] practices are outlawed in Ireland” and declared that “the Green Party has always been opposed to all blood sports and remains resolutely so.”

In a June 2016 Dail speech in support of Maureen O’Sullivan TD’s bill to ban coursing, Minister Martin stated: “Needless to say the Green Party will be supporting this Bill…To be absolutely clear, hare coursing is a brutal ordeal. Before the hares experience this ordeal, they are trapped and trained which is cruel enough. They are solitary creatures and keep to themselves in the wild, so keeping them in an enclosure causes significant stress and fear. Hare coursing involves the terrorising of one animal by another animal as a so-called sport, all the while being watched as entertainment. Not only are these timid and delicate creatures terrified and brutalised in this practice, they often suffer severe injuries and death. The hare is a brittle-boned creature and its internal injuries cannot heal. Injured hares have to be put down.”

Meanwhile, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is on record as stating: “I am firmly opposed to the current practice of fox hunting and hare coursing in the country which I feel cannot be defended on the grounds of preserving rural traditions or indeed any other conservation or rural development arguments.” In 2012, he attended an anti-coursing protest outside the Department of Agriculture in Dublin.

Green Party Minister of State for Heritage, Malcolm Noonan – whose department has continued to license coursing, despite the cruelty and fears over the spread of the deadly RHD2 virus – has also expressed opposition to coursing, condemning it as a “cruel practice” and pointing out that the appalling treatment of hares “highlights a shocking disregard for the welfare of the animals”.

Speaking during the Green Party’s “Our Environment and How We Protect It” online public meeting in July 2020, he stated: “We all want to see hare coursing ended – it’s a cruel practice.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV4PAgGEWDU

Paul Murphy TD (Solidarity-People Before Profit) introduced the Animal Health & Welfare (Ban on Hare Coursing) Bill in September 2020. Presenting the bill – which is co-signed by TDs Gino Kenny, Mick Barry, Richard Boyd Barrett, Brid Smith, Joan Collins and Catherine Connolly – Deputy Murphy condemned coursing as “a cruel, barbaric and outdated practice”.

“It has been banned across Britain and Northern Ireland and across all of the EU, apart from three countries, including Ireland,” he stated.

A ban on coursing is long overdue. Contact Green Party TDs – and all your local TDs – today and urge them to give their backing to the bill.

Witness the cruelty of hare coursing in Ireland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dm0mmXYcv8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVIKc2CS4ko

ACTION ALERT

Urge the Green Party to respect the wishes of the 77% majority who want coursing banned and pledge support for Paul Murphy TD’s bill which aims to outlaw the cruel bloodsport. The bill is expected back before the Dail in the coming months.

View the Green Party’s Animal Welfare Policy document
https://greenparty.ie/policies/animal-welfare

Contact Green Party TDs NOW

Email addresses for all 12 Green Party TDs:

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie
ossian.smyth@greenparty.ie

Eamon Ryan TD (Dublin Bay South)
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Catherine Martin TD (Dublin Rathdown)
Green Party Deputy Leader and Minister for Culture and Heritage
Tel: (01) 618 3018
Email: catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Catherinemartingreen/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/cathmartingreen

Malcolm Noonan TD (Carlow Kilkenny)
Heritage Minister
Tel: (01) 6183148
Email: malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; mos@housing.gov.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/votemalcolmnoonan1/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/noonan_malcolm

Neasa Hourigan TD (Dublin Central)
Tel: (01) 618 3172
Email: neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @neasa_neasa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neasahourigangreen/

Joe O’Brien TD (Dublin Fingal)
Tel: 01 618 4114
Email: joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @joefingalgreen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joefingalgreen/

Patrick Costello TD (Dublin South Central)
Tel: (01) 618 3566
Email: patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @Costellop
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrickcostellogreenparty

Francis Noel Duffy TD (Dublin South West)
Tel: (01) 618 4236
Email: francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @FNDuffy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FrancisNoelDuffy/

Roderic O’Gorman TD (Dublin West)
Tel: (01) 618 3222
Email: roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @rodericogorman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RodericOG/

Ossian Smyth TD (Dún Laoghaire)
Tel: (01) 618 3362
Email: ossian.smyth@greenparty.ie
Twitter: @smytho
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smythossian/

Brian Leddin TD (Limerick City)
Tel: (01) 618 3205
Email: brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @BrianLeddin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Leddin4Limerick/

Marc O’Cathasaigh TD (Waterford)
Tel: (01) 618 3223
Email: marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @MarcKC_Green
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ocathasaighmarc

Steven Matthews TD (Wicklow)
Tel: (01) 6183513
Email: steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: @stevensgreen1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stevenmatthewsgreenparty/

Please sign and share the petitions

Ban Blood Sports in Ireland
https://www.change.org/p/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Ireland – Ban cruel hare coursing
http://www.change.org/p/ireland-ban-cruel-hare-coursing

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

Galway Racecourse: 2 more horses dead

Two more horses lost their lives after races at Galway Racecourse last weekend – the latest in a growing list of racing fatalities.

The horses confirmed dead were used in races on Saturday (29 October 2022).

They were 5-year-old Irish horse Baby Zeus who fell in the “Corrib Oil Maiden Hurdle” race. The horse was carrying Danny Mullins.

The other horse killed was 6-year-old French horse Guily Billy who was carrying Rachael Blackmore. This horse suffered a fall in the “SANSERV Rated Novice Chase” race.

Two other horses died the previous month following races at Galway Racecourse.

Confirmed dead were 4-year-old Irish horse Lillydephilly who “didn’t jump well” and was pulled up in the “Kenny Developments Maiden Hurdle” race on 5th September 2022. Also dead is 5-year-old Irish horse Montel Glory who fell on the same day in the “angloprinters.ie Handicap Hurdle” race.

4 horses were also confirmed dead following the Galway Races Summer Festival. They were:

Smoke And Mirrors who weakened and finished 12th in a race on 30 July 2022.

Gabynako who was destroyed after suffering an injured back in a race at Galway Racecourse on 27 July 2022. The horse’s trainer confirmed the death two days later, tweeting: “Today we had to say goodbye to Gabynako a very special horse who had to be put asleep after he sustained an untreatable back injury in the Galway Plate.”

Hannon who was fatally injured (pulled up lame) on 26 July 2022.

5-year-old Japanese horse Crowns Major “suffered a fatal injury” in the 2-mile €110,000 “Connacht Hotel Handicap” race on Day 1 of the Galway Races Summer Festival (25 July 2022).

SEE ALSO:

More horses confirmed dead following races at Irish racecourses https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/horses-confirmed-dead-following-races-at-irish-racecourses/

Galway Races: FOURTH horse confirmed dead
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2022/08/18/galway-races-fourth-horse-confirmed-dead/

ACTION ALERT

Urge Corrib Oil to stop sponsoring horse racing.

Freephone: 1800 267742
Email: info@corriboil.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Corriboil

Urge Sanserv to stop sponsoring horse racing

Tel: LoCall 0818 211409 or 091 773445
Email: sales@sanserv.com

Don’t bet on horse racing or attend horse racing events.

Since 2001, the Irish Government has granted €1,240 million (€1.24 Billion) of scarce public funds to horse racing

Contact Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and demand an end to state funding to this gambling activity which cause much suffering and death to horses. Tell them to redirect the funds to the many deserving charities, health/homeless/environmental groups, sports clubs, animal rescue centres, etc crying out for funding.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin
Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Tanaiste Leo Varadkar
Telephone: +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Paschal Donohoe TD
Minister for Finance
Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie; minister@finance.gov.ie
Tel: 01 604 5626
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/
Tweet to @Paschald

Urge Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs to stop funding horse racing.

Fianna Fáil TDs

john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Fine Gael TDs

JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie;
ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Sinn Fein TDs

john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Labour Party TDs

sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie

Please sign and share the petition

Irish Government: Stop giving millions of euros to horse racing
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euros-to-horse-racing

Irish Government grants to horse racing

2001 €47,110,330
2002 €54,452,651
2003 €51,348,800
2004 €53,531,200
2005 €54,680,000
2006 €56,047,000
2007 €58,539,000
2008 €61,028,800
2009 €54,502,000
2010 €47,411,200
2011 €45,830,000
2012 €45,032,000
2013 €44,016,000
2014 €43,376,000
2015 €54,400,000
2016 €59,200,000
2017 €64,000,000
2018 €64,000,000
2019 €67,200,000
2020 €67,200,000
2021 €76,800,000
2022 €70,400,000

Total: €1,240,104,981 / €1,240 million / €1.24 billion

+ €72.8 million allocated in Budget 2023

BREAKING NEWS: 104-year-old foxhunt has “ceased to exist”

A fox hunt which has been terrorising and killing foxes for over a century has finally shut down.

The Kilmoganny Foxhounds, based in Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary, has reportedly gone out of business due to a “huge increase in insurance costs”.

The Irish Field publication is reporting that the hunt has “ceased to exist” after “a huge increase in running costs left the club with no other option but to disband”. https://www.theirishfield.ie/news-high-costs-puts-an-end-to-historic-hunt-club-730999

According to the report, the hunt’s chairman “spoke with no little emotion on the loss of the hunt and the gaping hole it will leave in the rural life of South Kilkenny”.

The hunt, which was affiliated to the Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association, included a pack of 60 hounds which were kept in kennels at Castletown Cox Estate in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. It targeted unfortunate foxes twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays in “South Kilkenny and south of the River Anner”.

The hunt is laughably described in the Irish Field as “very sporting” but there is nothing sporting about foxhunting. A pack of dozens of trained hounds are released to chase a fox across the countryside until the animal becomes so exhausted, he can no longer stay ahead. At this point, the hounds close in and the fox is knocked to the ground, bitten, disembowelled and pulled asunder. All for the amusement a mob of heartless hunters who follow on foot or horseback to watch the dogs terrorising their prey.

Fox hunting is completely unacceptable in modern Ireland and a majority in both rural and urban areas want it stopped. A RED C opinion poll, commissioned by the Irish Council Against Blood Sports, found that 77% agree that the government should BAN FOX HUNTING. The 2019 poll showed that just 12% disagree with a ban. Please respond to our action alert below and join calls for a long overdue ban.

ACTION ALERT

If you are a landowner, make your property off-limits to hunts. Find out more at
http://www.banbloodsports.com/farmers.htm

Contact the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to demand a ban on cruel fox hunting and all bloodsports.

Micheál Martin
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: +353 (0)1–618 4350 or +353 (0)21-432 0088
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Leo Varadkar
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: +353 (0)1-704 3630 OR +353 (0)1-640 3133
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Eamon Ryan
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/

Contact Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour Party TDs.

Email Fianna Fail TDs

micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie; niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie; brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie; aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie; michael.moynihan.td@oireachtas.ie; Charlie.McConalogue@oireachtas.ie; michael.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie; sean.haughey@oireachtas.ie; jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie; darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie; jack@jackchambers.ie; anne.rabbitte@oireachtas.ie; eamon.ocuiv@oireachtas.ie; james.lawless@oireachtas.ie; sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie; sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie; barry.cowen@oireachtas.ie; willie.odea@oireachtas.ie; niall.collins@oireachtas.ie; Robert.Troy@oireachtas.ie; dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie; thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie; marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie; jackie.cahill@oireachtas.ie; mary.butler@oireachtas.ie; james.browne@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie; cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie; james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie; padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie; paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie; john.lahart@oireachtas.ie; cormac@cormacdevlin.ie; normafoley1@eircom.net; joe.flaherty@oireachtas.ie; Stephen.Donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Email Fine Gael TDs

leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; JohnPaul.Phelan@oireachtas.ie; Heather.Humphreys@oireachtas.ie; joe.carey@oireachtas.ie; david.stanton@oir.ie; colm.burke@oireachtas.ie; michael.creed@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Coveney@oireachtas.ie; joe.mchugh@oireachtas.ie; richard.bruton@oireachtas.ie; Paschal.Donohoe@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Farrell@oireachtas.ie; emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie; neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie; josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie; colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie; jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie; Ciaran.Cannon@oireachtas.ie; hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie; Brendan.Griffin@oireachtas.ie; bernard.durkan@oireachtas.ie; Martin.Heydon@oireachtas.ie; charles.flanagan@oireachtas.ie; kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie; Patrick.O’Donovan@oireachtas.ie; peter.burke@oireachtas.ie; fergus.odowd@oireachtas.ie; alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie; michael.ring@oireachtas.ie; helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie; damien.english@oireachtas.ie; frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie; paul.kehoe@oireachtas.ie; Simon.Harris@oireachtas.ie

Email Green Party TDs

Eamon.Ryan@greenparty.ie; catherine.martin@oireachtas.ie; patrick.costello@oireachtas.ie; francisnoel.duffy@oireachtas.ie; neasa.hourigan@oireachtas.ie; brian.leddin@oireachtas.ie; steven.matthews@oireachtas.ie; malcolm.noonan@oireachtas.ie; joe.obrien@oireachtas.ie; marc.ocathasaigh@oireachtas.ie; roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie; ossian.smyth@oireachtas.ie

Email Sinn Fein TDs

MaryLou.McDonald@oireachtas.ie; john.brady@oireachtas.ie; pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie; Sean.Crowe@oireachtas.ie; david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie; Pearse.Doherty@oireachtas.ie; dessie.ellis@oir.ie; kathleen.funchion@oireachtas.ie; martinkennysf@gmail.com; denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie; imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie; eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie; donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie; aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie; louiseoreillysf@gmail.com; maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie; Brian.Stanley@oireachtas.ie; mark.ward@oireachtas.ie; chris.andrews@oireachtas.ie; martin.browne@oireachtas.ie; matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie; sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie; roseconwaywalsh@eircom.net; reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie; pa.daly@oireachtas.ie; paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie; mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie; thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie; johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie; claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie; padraig.maclochlainn@oir.ie; johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie; ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie; darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie; patriciaryan975@gmail.com; pauline.tully@oireachtas.ie

Email Labour Party TDs

ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie; brendan.howlin@oireachtas.ie; sean.sherlock@oireachtas.ie; aodhan.oriordain@oireachtas.ie; duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie; gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie; Alan.Kelly@oireachtas.ie

Sign and share our “Ban Blood Sports in Ireland” petition
https://www.change.org/petitions/ban-blood-sports-in-ireland

Please support our campaign with a donation
https://www.paypal.me/banbloodsports

Irish greyhound “exposed to unnecessary suffering”

An Irish greyhound was “exposed to unnecessary suffering and potentially to serious injury and distress”, a disturbing new report reveals.

The 4th November 2022 edition of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain’s “Calendar” publication provides details about an 18th October 2022 Disciplinary Committee Inquiry at which greyhound trainer Ms Joanne Robinson was “found in breach of rules 152(i) and (ii) and 174 (xi) of the GBGB Rules of Racing in that she treated or caused the greyhound Laughil Roxy to be treated in a manner likely to cause the greyhound unnecessary suffering.”

The Committee heard that on 5 October 2021, Laughil Roxy was used in a trial at Kinsley Stadium in the UK during which she “sustained a sudden onset right hind limb lameness” and had to be carried away. A track vet diagnosed a marked instability in the right hock and believed advised that there was probably a fracture and that x-rays were needed for a full diagnosis and more accurate prognosis.

Also in the vet’s room was the coordination officer of the Kinsley Hock and Long Bone Scheme (KHLBS) – a rehoming scheme which covers the costs of treating injured greyhounds, on the condition that they must no longer be used in racing or breeding.

According to the GBGB report, “during the examination, [trainer] Ms Robinson told the vet, Sophie Widdowson, that Laughil Roxy had run badly and would be returning to Ireland”.

The vet said she had “made it very clear to Ms Robinson that the dog could not be transported to Ireland with the injury under examination” and that “it was agreed that the greyhound would be transported to a vet for radiography and treatment under the KHLBS.”

The vet applied temporary support bandaging and injected the greyhound with painkiller. She issued a Transport Certificate to Ms Robinson that advised that further pain relief was required within 24 hours and that x-rays and further evaluation by a vet were required within 48 hours.

The vet said she ticked the “follow up required“ box on the certificate because she was concerned that despite her advice, the dog would be transported to Ireland before treatment.

When informed that Ms Robinson’s father had phoned asking that the dog be taken to their own vet, because they did not want the dog retired and rehomed under the KHLBS scheme. the vet “reiterated that the dog could not be transported to Ireland before further veterinary attention”.

“The Committee heard that Ms Robinson did not take Laughil Roxy to a vet,” the inquiry report stated.

She gave evidence that when the greyhound was with the vet, she had phoned her father because she knew that under an arrangement between her and her father with a Kevin Losty, who had supplied them with Laughil Roxy, the dog could not be re-homed but had to be sent back to Ireland.

She said she had checked by phone with her father if the dog could be treated under the KHLBS scheme and her father confirmed that the dog had to be sent back to Mr Losty to be treated by his vet in Ireland and then used for breeding.

Robinson told the Committee that since becoming a trainer 6 or 7 years previously, she and her father had received dozens of greyhounds from Mr Losty in Ireland. She said that some of the greyhounds had been bought, while others, including Laughil Roxy “were in effect supplied on loan and, if they did not race or stopped racing, they had to be transported back to Mr Losty”.

She went on to say that she took Laughil Roxy from the track to her kennels and that, on the following day, 6 October 2021, her father had inspected the injury, removed the bandaging, replaced it with cotton wool and elasticated bandage and gave the dog a painkiller.

The day after that, she met with a Northern Irish transporter frequently used by Mr Losty and handed over the greyhound for transport back to Ireland.

The Committee heard that inquiries by the GBGB had established that the greyhound was not taken to a vet in Ireland until 12 October 2021 – a full week after the injury was sustained. Laughil Roxy “was diagnosed as having sustained a comminuted hock fracture with a subsequent collapse of the fractured bone and was euthanased”.

Ms Robinson told the Committee that “she had felt she had no choice but to comply with what her father and Mr Losty were telling her to do” and that “she had believed the dog had sustained only a minor injury and she would never have knowingly caused it to suffer or be neglected”. She said she was extremely sorry that the greyhound had not been treated sooner and had been euthanised.

The Committee “accepted Ms Robinson had no intention of exposing Laughil Roxy to suffering or harm” but found that she “had been guilty of a serious dereliction of her duties as a professional trainer”, adding that “she had recklessly gone against the repeated professional advice of the track vet and allowed the greyhound to travel without qualified, competent examination and treatment.”

“There had been no good reason why, if she could not or would not use the KLBHS to care for the greyhound, it could not have been sent for x-ray and necessary treatment before being transported to Ireland,” the report continued. “It was simply that neither she nor anyone else responsible for Laughil Roxy had been willing to meet the cost.”

“It was clear the dog was exposed to unnecessary suffering and potentially to serious injury and distress,” the Committee concluded. “Although it was accepted Ms Robinson did not anticipate that Laughil Roxy would not be seen by a vet until 7 days after being injured nor that the dog would then be euthanased, those unfortunate events would not have happened without her reckless breach of her duty of care as a professional trainer.”

The Committee ordered that she be disqualified for three years (suspended for three years) and she was fined £3,000.

The Greyhound Racing Ireland website shows that Laughil Roxy was born on 11th June 2018. Before ending up in the UK, she was trialled at Longford, Kilkenny, Galway and Newbridge tracks up to 20 August 2021 and used in races at Thurles and Limerick tracks.

Read the full Disciplinary Committee report at
https://gbgb-prod-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/04091350/Calendar-4-November-2022-Vol-14-No-22.pdf#page=5

Earlier this year, it emerged that another Irish greyhound who was used at Kinsley track was later found dead in a canal. BBC News reported that “a dog tied to a sandbag was found dead in an East Yorkshire canal….The female greyhound was recovered from Beverley Beck by a local animal volunteer, the RSPCA said. A length of rope connected the dog’s neck and the weight.” Read more at https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2022/10/25/irish-greyhound-found-dead-in-canal-with-sandbag-tied-to-neck/

ACTION ALERT

Don’t go greyhound racing or attend events at tracks.

If you are in the UK, sign the “Cut The Chase” petition
https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/greyhounds

Urge Battersea to join RSPCA, Dogs Trust, Bluecross, Scottish SPCA and other groups in calling for and end to greyhound racing in the UK.

Email: info@battersea.org.uk
Tel: 0800 001 4444.
Tweet: @Battersea_ @CEO_Battersea

Please join us in urging the Irish Government to STOP the massive grants that are propping up cruel, dog-killing greyhound racing. Since 2001, Greyhound Racing Ireland has received €309 million in funding, including €19.2 million for 2021 and €17.6 million for 2022. Another €18.2 million has been allocated in Budget 2023. This is unacceptable and must be stopped.

Please contact your local TDs and urge them to oppose this funding. Visit the Oireachtas website for contact details for TDs https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/tds/?term=/ie/oireachtas/house/dail/33

Urge the leaders of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and Labour to stop the funding and back a ban on cruel greyhound racing

Micheál Martin TD
Leader, Fianna Fail
Email: micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie; info@fiannafail.ie
Phone: 021-432 0088
Leinster House: 01–618 3000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michealmartintd/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/@MichealMartinTD

Leo Varadkar TD
Leader, Fine Gael
Telephone: 01-619 4020
Email: leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie; finegael@finegael.ie
Tweet to: http://www.twitter.com/@LeoVaradkar
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeoVaradkar

Eamon Ryan TD
Leader, Green Party
Tel: 01 618 3894
Email: eamon.ryan@oireachtas.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EamonRyanGP/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EamonRyan

Mary Lou McDonald TD
Leader, Sinn Fein
Tel: (01) 727 7102
Email: marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLouMcDonald
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MaryLouMcDonaldTD

Ivana Bacik TD
Leader, The Labour Party
Tel: (01) 6183136
Email: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivanabacik
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bacikivana/

Please sign and share the petitions

Irish Government: Stop Giving Millions of Euro to Cruel Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/irish-government-stop-giving-millions-of-euro-to-cruel-greyhound-racing

Stop supporting the cruel greyhound “industry”
https://www.change.org/p/stop-supporting-the-cruel-greyhound-industry

GAA: Stop club fundraisers at greyhound tracks
https://www.change.org/p/gaa-stop-club-fundraisers-at-greyhound-tracks

Tell Gain Pet Nutrition to Stop Sponsoring Greyhound Racing
https://www.change.org/p/jimtracy-glanbia-ie-tell-gain-pet-nutrition-to-stop-sponsoring-greyhound-racing

SEE ALSO:

Watch RTE’s award-winning “Greyhounds Running For Their Lives” documentary