Two convicted for hare coursing in Yorkshire

IFAW welcomes convictions for hare coursing

July 2009. Miles Henry Easterby and Major John Shaw have been convicted of committing offences under the Hunting Act. Following trial at Scarborough Magistrates Court, both defendants were found guilty of permitting illegal hare coursing to take place and of attending an illegal hare coursing event in March 2007 in North Yorkshire.

Reacting to the verdict, Robbie Marsland, UK Director of International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said: "IFAW is delighted at today's guilty verdicts. The judge unequivocally ruled that this was hare coursing, illegal under the Hunting Act. These convictions should serve as a strong warning to anyone else intending on taking part in similar activities in the future that they will be prosecuted. This case was based on undercover footage captured by IFAW investigators, whose evidence proved crucial."

IFAW's private prosecution against race horse trainer Sir Mark Prescott and Clarissa Dickson-Wright for alleged hare coursing offences in North Yorkshire in March 2007 is scheduled for trial at Scarborough Magistrates Court from September 1-4 2009.

Help ban hare coursing in Ireland

Hare coursing is still legal in Ireland, but is considered by some to be one of the most barbaric forms of recreational animal cruelty ever devised by man for his amusement. It consists of capturing hares in the countryside, keeping them in captivity before forcing them to run for their lives from pairs of competing greyhounds.

The "sport" takes place within the confines of a large wired enclosure, with each hare in turn being set loose from a small box while two greyhounds are unleashed to pursue it. Many hares are struck, mauled, or literally tossed into the air by the dogs, sustaining severe and painful injuries in the process. Other hares, perhaps the lucky ones, are killed outright when struck by the dogs.

10,000 hares per year
More than 10,000 hares are captured annually in Ireland for use in these public animal-baiting sessions.

All animal protection groups in Ireland are opposed to hare coursing and favour its abolition, as does the majority of the population of Ireland. But a small and powerful elite has ensured that it has, up to now, remained a legal "sport".

However, Ireland's Green Party, which is opposed to hare coursing and believes it ought to be banned, is currently one of the two political parties that form Ireland's Coalition Government, the other being a party whose members are divided between supporting and opposing the blood sport.

To help with the campaign to stop hare coursing in Ireland, click here.