Files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to a Garda clampdown on illegal hare coursing, which saw nine people, including a 14-year-old boy, arrested, questioned and released last week.
The arrests related to the alleged use of “lurcher” dogs to course hares on private land, sometimes setting up to five dogs in chase of a hare, for betting purposes.
Gardaí and officials from the National Parks and Wildlife Service carried out a joint operation on Wednesday targeting people suspected of being involved in the illegal coursing and made nine arrests of suspects, aged between 14 and 40, in Clonmel, Cashel and Thurles.
Equipment seized during searches in those areas included high-powered lamps used to catch hares at nighttime – so-called “lamping” – and a trap, while a number of dogs were also seized and are currently being held by the authorities in Tipperary.
Lurchers are bred using greyhounds and other herding dog breeds, and can be used to catch hares without killing them. The hares are then used for coursing on farmland. “They go into a field and let off a hare and could have three, four or five dogs after it. The hare has no chance,” a garda said. “They’re coming from all angles of the field.”
Illegal coursing has been causing concern among supporters of the licensed sport for some time, with a committee being formed by several Tipperary-based coursing clubs earlier this year.
The cancellation of a major annual event, traditionally held just before the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel, because of the depletion of the hare population following a spate of poaching, prompted a large crowd to attend a public meeting in Cahir.
The Irish Coursing Club, which oversees licensed coursing events involving muzzled greyhounds through the winter months, has welcomed the clampdown on illegal hare-hunting which follows the establishment of a “reporting mechanism” to help gardaí and wildlife officials in their investigations.
Last week’s arrests followed complaints made by coursing clubs in the south of the country and were made under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 and the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013.
Following the release of those arrested, gardaí in Thurles are now preparing files for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will decide if charges are to follow.
According to the ICC, the poaching involves “packs of unmuzzled dogs hunting down and killing wildlife in large numbers” which affects the conservation of the Irish hare and their habitats. It also involves trespassing on farmland, disturbing livestock and property damage.