| ICABS Action Alerts |
Ask Southern Star to drop hunt reports
Cork's Southern Star newspaper has been asked to stop featuring hunting reports in its local notes section. One report described how a terrorised fox ran "like a scalded cat" during a hunt.
The Southern Star's 21st January 2012 edition carried the following account: "The hounds picked up the line of a fox in Mulcahy's farm, which took them to McCarthy's plantation where a vixen and five or six admirers were on foot - then one fox broke at the east end and went north through McCarthy's farm like a scalded cat with 7.5 couples [15 hounds] on his heels..."
The fox desperately ran for its life ahead of hounds that were said to be "travelling at a pace that would do justice to a greyhound on the straights at Clounanna".
A 24th December 2011 report focused on the infamous South Union hunt (whose appalling cruelty is featured in our Ban Foxhunting Video). It stated that at a St Stephen's Day hunt, the hunters were to "first assemble in the County Council car park on Crosshaven Road." A further report confirmed that the hunt had gathered on the Council property where they left their lorries and horseboxes.
A separate report declared that "hunting followers enjoyed some excellent sport at their two hunts during the past week". During these hunts, a hare "provided the hounds with a few turns, taking them over to Carrigeen and on to Ballylangley", "a sturdy fox took the hounds over through Grange and on to the Bog before going to ground" and "a fine dog fox was put out and he set the pace with a number of circles before going to ground in Lehina."
According to a 7th January 2012 report, "Members of the South Cork Farmers Hunt provided an impressive sight as they were waved off by Kinsale Mayor, Fred Treacy (Fine Gael)". Mayor Treacy can be contacted at ftreacy@gofree.indigo.ie or Tel: 021-4772691 or 086-8275481).
In an email to the editor of the Southern Star, ICABS called for an end to the offensive hunting reports. "Given the extreme cruelty of fox and hare hunting and the fact that Southern Star is a family newspaper, we appeal to your sense of compassion to stop giving space to those involved in this barbarity," we stated. "Please side with the majority who abhor cruelty and keep hunt reports out of the Southern Star."
ACTION ALERT
Contact the editor of Southern Star and ask for hunt reports to be excluded from future editions of the paper. Suggest that the paper instead exposes the appalling cruelty of foxhunting and hare hunting in County Cork.
The Editor
Southern Star Newspaper
Ilen Street
Skibbereen, Co. Cork
Ireland
Tel: +353(0)28 21200
Email: info@southernstar.ie