An open coursing event took place in a ‘rabbit haemmorhagic disease (RHD2) virus-restriction zone’ in 2020 but no legal breach occurred, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
Just one open-coursing event occurred in 2020.
That event, by Bantry Coursing Club, “took place within an RHD2 virus 25km restriction zone” according to a report by one of two NPWS conservation rangers who attended the event.
The ranger also noted:
“We did not observe any members of the coursing club taking biosecurity measures e.g. using foot baths, as we did.”
However, a spokesperson for the NPWS told Agriland that unlike enclosed coursing, open coursing does not involve the netting or tagging of hares; the keeping of hares in close proximity; and is not covered by a licence so there is no restriction placed on an open coursing club to organise an event.
Closed-coursing restriction
In August 2019, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht suspended issuing licences to the Irish Coursing Club for its (enclosed coursing) events.
The suspension came following the first-ever discovery of RHD2 – a relatively new strain of the disease – in an Irish hare. There was a concern that the virus may spread more easily when hares were captured and held together in close proximity.
However, restricted licences that were later introduced imposed a 25km restriction on enclosed coursing events.
This meant that coursing activities or the netting of hares were not permitted to take place within 25km of where a dead rabbit or hare that tests positive for RHD2 is found.
The restrictions also called for such events to be monitored by the NPWS.
When contacted by Agriland about the Bantry open-coursing event, the NPWS spokesperson said:
“Open hare coursing events are not covered by licence, as they do not involve the capturing or tagging of wild hares.
“Therefore, there was no restriction placed on them [the club] in carrying out this event as the 25km restriction zone relates to the capturing and tagging of hares only.
“The reason for this restriction was due to the fact that it was believed that the RHD2 virus may spread more easily when hares were captured and held together in close proximity. That is not the case with open coursing,” the spokesperson said.
Veterinary presence
The ranger’s report of that particular open coursing event in October 2020, described scenarios of hares being chased by dogs – greyhounds that were all muzzled – and escaping easily in most instances.
The conservation warden wrote:
“Eventually a hare presented itself and ran across the field and the two dogs were slipped. The hare escaped easily. The dogs were changed for the other two and the beaters tried from a different direction, into the same field.”
One hare, however, was “pinned” by a dog:
“This time, a hare came out and the dogs were slipped, but the hare turned back into the field and was caught. The dogs pinned the hare…” according to the report.
After the dogs were restrained, the hare was released before either NPWS ranger present could “get a close look at it”.
Certain wild mammals, including some deer species and hares, are permitted to be hunted at certain times of the year – under the Wildlife (Wild Mammals) (Open Seasons) Orders 2005 to 2012.
In relation to hares, this permits: shooting with firearms; coursing at regulated coursing matches; and hunting with packs of beagles and harriers.
In response to a query from Agriland regarding the requirement for a vet to be present at open coursing events, a spokesperson for the NPWS said under the law, “there is no requirement to have an attending vet present”.
While the rangers attending the open coursing event referred to in this article were assured, at the time, that the hare was fine after it had been ‘pinned’ by the dog, the ranger wrote in his report:
“I feel that the lack of a suitable veterinarian at such an event, to determine the health of potentially injured hares, is something that should be addressed if possible. There is a veterinarian at enclosed coursing meetings for just such a purpose.”