Madam, – I see that leading Irish jockey Ruby Walsh has strongly defended stag hunting, warning that attempts to ban it must be stopped (Home News, March 15th).
While commending what Mr Walsh has done for the reputation of Ireland’s bloodstock industry in his capacity as a rider of horses, I cannot share his affection for a pastime that involves the deliberate hounding to exhaustion and injury of a domesticated stag for fun.
I am equally sceptical of claims by pro-hunt organisations that the midlands region, where the nation’s only stag hunt operates, will be devastated economically if stag hunting is banned.
The entire spectacle of riding to hounds across country, complete with all its glorious pomp and pageantry, can be replicated through drag hunting, whereby an artificial scent is utilised to ensure the pack will lead the mounted riders and hunt followers on a merry and meandering afternoon’s chase.
Is it necessary to force a semi-tame deer to be released from a crate and chased for miles until it drops from exhaustion, its body torn by barbed wire and brambles, its eyes bulging with terror and its tongue hanging out as it gasps for breath? Surely intelligent human beings can exercise their equestrian skills and enjoy the thrill of the chase without subjecting an innocent animal to unnecessary terror, trauma, injury, and pain?
Minister for the Environment John Gormley is not proposing to spoil their fun, just to take the terrorised stag out of the equation. They can then continue to ride in full hunt regalia, blowing horns and crying tally-ho, or follow along on quad bikes or land-rovers, and have the same craic in the pubs and hotels afterwards – and nobody will object to their sport. – Yours, etc,