Anti-blood sports group hits back at councillors

Dear sir - Shame on the 24 Meath County Councillors who recently voted to support the RISE! campaign against the legislation to outlaw Ward Union deer hunt. They clearly have no compassion for a vulnerable farmed deer pursued around the countryside by a pack of hounds followed by people on horseback for 'sport'. And they do not represent the views of the vast majority of Meath people as evidenced by a poll carried out by a local newspaper in 2007, which showed two-thirds of the county opposed to the Ward Union. Meanwhile, we applaud the three councillors who voted against the motion, Cllrs Noel Leonard, Shane Cassells and Jimmy Fegan, who obviously had informed themselves about the cruelty before voting. The RISE! group, comprising of FACE Ireland (Federation of Associations for Hunting) and the Hunting Association of Ireland, representing foxhunters and assorted hare hunters, was set up to campaign against the Ward Union carted deer hunt ban. RISE! supports hunting wild animals with dogs, such as hare coursing, fox hunting with hounds and the carted deer hunting, which no doubt the Meath councillors will have been told is harmless bit of fun. But deer suffer during these hunts, risking injury and death as they encounter hedges, ditches, barbed wire, walls, rivers and busy roads. And there have been casualties, as revealed in Dept of Agriculture veterinary reports. That's just a sample of the cruelty, as not all hunts were monitored by Department vets. RISE is going around the country, holding meetings, talking to TDs and councillors, and representing itself as a defender of the traditional rural way of life, which they say is under threat. They talk about falling agricultural incomes, closure of schools, post offices and Garda stations, planning, lack of broadband and rural transport, but in truth, these people couldn't care less about these things. Their primary agenda is the preservation of the Ward Union carted deer hunt and other bloodsports, which they say are enjoyed in rural Ireland by people from both urban and rural backgrounds. However, the vast majority in this country, both urban and rural, oppose these bloodsports, and this has been borne out in independent polls. For example, in the case of hare coursing, since the mid-seventies, polls have shown the vast majority are opposed to this barbarity. Yours, Aideen Yourell, Spokesperson, Irish Council Against Blood Sports, PO Box 88, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.