Coursing Club lashes illegal hare hunters in Galway

Loughrea Coursing Club Secretary Jack Mahony believes there wouldn’t be a hare around East Galway were it not for his local club and he has hit out at illegal hunters – especially those using ‘lurcher’ dogs – for the barbaric manner in which they are killing Galway’s hare population.

Only last week the Irish Coursing Club released a press statement commending the Gardaí and National Parks and Wildlife Service on the recent arrests in Tipperary made in relation to the illegal hunting of the Irish hare, which has been a protected species in the Republic of Ireland since 1930.

“You can say it loud and clear, there wouldn’t be a hare around East Galway only for the coursing club because we are absolutely decimated with ‘lurchers’,” said Mr. Mahony, when giving a Talking Sport interview to the Tribune last week.

“It is unbelievable. They are hunting morning, noon and night around the place here. What they do is they go into the field – into the four corners – and close in before they raise the hare. They give him no chance to get away. They just kill him.

“What they are doing at night then – and an awful lot of illegal hunting goes on at night – they are out lamping with the lurchers. There is no chance for the hare to get away,” fumes Mr. Mahony, who says those engaging in this do so “because they have nothing better to do”.

With the introduction of muzzling greyhounds in 1993, Irish Coursing has worked hard at improving its image, no more so than Loughrea Club which caught 74 hares by net over the summer for its recent meeting and subsequently released all 74 back into the wild under the Supervision of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.