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Legislation has been introduced prohibiting hare hunting in the Dáil, which would see participants fined 1,000 euros and up to six months in prison.
Introducing the Animal Health and Welfare Bill (Hare Passage Ban), Rise TD Paul Murphy said that Ireland is one of only three EU member states that have not banned the passage, which is already prohibited in Ireland of the North and Great Britain.
Father Ted’s actress, Pauline McLynn, is among those supporting the bill, along with several organizations including the National Animal Rights Association, the Irish Council Against Bloody Sports, the Irish Society for Prevention Cruelty to Animals and Not For Your Entertainment.
It is the third time that anti-hare legislation has been introduced in the Dáil.
“Hare hunting is a really cruel and barbaric practice,” Murphy said. “Each year, more than 5,000 hares are caught in the wild, kept in captivity, in a very close confinement when they are solitary creatures.
“They are trained in what way to run and then they are given a course. They are released down a track, run and chased by two dogs that are ten times their size. “
Murphy renewed pressure on the Green Party, asking its TDs to back the legislation when it is debated. In opposition, the Greens had supported a previous failed bill to ban the race.
The party also lobbied, unsuccessfully, for such legislation to be included in the Government Program.
Mr. Murphy criticized Green Party Vice Leader and Arts Minister Catherine Martin, who told a leadership earlier this year that “if Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were against the bill, she would vote against it. he ‘with the greatest of hearts’.
“Frankly, I do not think that the hares or the animal rights defenders will care how heavy the heart of the minister is if she votes to continue this cruel practice.”
Sinn Féin TDs previously voted against such a ban and will do so again when the legislation is debated. The party believes that the race should be regulated and that a ban would drive it underground.
The bill now goes to the Dáil lottery system, where legislation drafted by individual TDs is randomly chosen for discussion.
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