Groups criticise hare-trap plan which involves coursing clubs
ANIMAL welfare groups have condemned a bid to capture, microchip and study hundreds of hares across the country in bid to combat a contagious deadly virus spreading in the population.
On Wednesday, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht issued a roadmap for their planned study of the hare population which aims to understand the impacts of the RHD2 virus on the Irish hare.
The first positive test for the virus in an Irish hare was recorded in August. Since then a number of cases have also been recorded.
The study will be a joint operation between the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine, the National Parks and Wildlife Service as well as various nominated veterinary surgeons. Conducting the field tests will also require the co-operation of coursing clubs in Ireland.
A series of controlled tests will be undertaken in coming weeks, in which up to 500 hares will be captured from five designated areas around the country.
The hare paddocks will be secured and monitored by CCTV so that the animals’ behaviour can be observed and recorded.
The Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports was critical of allowing coursing clubs to participate in the study, however.
‘We are concerned that the involvement of coursing clubs, which have an obvious vested interest in getting the go-ahead for another coursing season, will undermine what ought to be an impartial and highly professional series of field tests that must be above reproach,’ it said.
The Irish Council Against Blood Sports said it was ‘shocked’ by Culture Minister Josepha Madigan’s decision to ‘capitulate’ to hare coursers and risk snatching 500 hares from the wild. It also said capturing these 500 hares risks spreading RHD2 further.
‘If any of these 500 corralled hares are infected with RHD2, that puts other hares at higher risk of infection than in the wild, and if one or more hares does test positive, what happens to other corralled hares that may now be infected or potential carriers?’ said the group.
It said that the least risky solution is to leave the hares isolated in the wild and maintain ‘the suspension of hare netting for coursing’.
During the week, a carcass of a hare taken from a location in north Co. Dublin tested positive for the virus, which is fatal to rabbits and hares but does not affect agriculture or livestock. It also poses no risk to humans. The virus arrived in Ireland last July but has since jumped to the Irish hare which is a protected species and unique to Ireland.
The first positive test for the virus in an Irish hare led to a ban on coursing clubs trapping hares in a bid to contain the outbreak.
Rabbit haemorrhagic disease killed millions of animals in China when it was first identified in 1984. It subsequently spread to continental Europe and was first detected in the wild in Ireland last July.
Diseased animals exhibit swollen eyelids, paralysis and bleeding from the eyes and mouth. The disease has also been found in six other counties.
In response to concerns raised by the animal welfare groups, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said: ‘We are working through the practical modalities and professional protocols of the clinical sciencebased field tests.
‘Answers to the questions related to those tests will be arrived at in consultation with professional clinicians, veterinary personnel, virologists, microbiologists and wildlife conservation experts partnering in order to ensure the integrity of the outcomes and results and to best safeguard the long term conservation of the Irish hare.’
It risks further spread of RHD2