The Hounds Of Hell

at

Tally NO!

Tullaroan, County Kilkenny

John Fitzgerald writes:

Farmer Norman Daniels of Tullaroan, County Kilkenny has suffered numerous incursions from hunts over the years. Hunts cause extensive damage to farm property nationwide and many landowners consider them a nuisance, and in some instances a grave threat, that they can ill afford

But this time (the incident happened over Christmas), Norman Daniels had a camcorder ready to record the type of hunt havoc landowners have to contend with on a weekly basis every season in Ireland.

As The Irish Council Against Bloodsports say on their facebook page: “This all demonstrates yet another good reason for hunting with hounds to be banned in Ireland.”

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Irish Council Against Bloodsports

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30 thoughts on “The Hounds Of Hell

  1. Bort

    Who is left in Ireland that is actually pro fox hunting? It’s a strange one, not many farmers have much gra for foxes. But most sheep farmers if they find a dog on their land would be putting a bullet in it, even if it’s their best pal next door’s dog

    1. The Old Boy

      I often wondered about that. Farmers aren’t famous for their tolerance of trespassing, especially when loose dogs are involved, and there would be one or two who wouldn’t be slow with the shotgun.

      I can’t imagine too many of them ringing their cloth caps and tugging their forelocks as the hunt passes these days.

  2. Janet, I ate my Avatar

    I don’t really get it
    did they wreak the gaff or just run through it
    I don’t see them worrying livestock

    1. some old queen

      You won’t see it but a farm animal can hear and smell a pack of howling dogs then panic a long way off.

      Without compensation a farmer may have cows aborting 3-4 days later and sheep having to be euthanized because of fright or slowly starving when they caught up in barbed wire.

      It is complete myth that farming people support hunting.

  3. Andrew

    I know plenty of people that are pro fox hunting.
    Hunts would normally only traverse lands where permission has been obtained from the land owner in advance.

    1. Robert

      Well as valuable as your anonymous anecdotal information is, this non-anonymous video evidence is very much to the contrary.

    2. some old queen

      Dogs do not respect boundaries and as pointed out above, even if they do there is no guarantee that neighbouring farm animals will not be harmed.

  4. Kolmo

    It’s an attitude that has not changed since the time of the Raj – “of course we’re entitled to ride wherever we like, any protestations are nothing but the squeak of the peasant, easily ignored” – probably said at the local hunt fete/gala. They drove a stag into a schoolyard full of kids in Co. Meath a number of years ago, reckless toffery, the worst kind. Many of the inner circle hunt, so nothing will change.

    1. Mansions

      The farmer can sue the hunt, but it’s months and years of expense by a not necessarily very well off peasant versus the local horsemen and their barristers.

      1. some old queen

        Also it is near impossible at times to prove the damage was caused by the hunt but yes, I have personally seen a case where a shotgun was aimed before they got the message.

        If you doubt the effect it has on livestock then just look at the penned cattle in that video and the way in which they try to get as far away from the dogs as possible. And that is not even considering pets like other dogs or cats and what they would do to them. These dogs are bred to kill after all.

          1. some old queen

            I doubt if this would cover hunt packs mind.

            The person who shoots the dog must be able to show that:
            The dog was shot when it was worrying, or was about to worry, livestock and that there were no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying; or
            The dog was a stray dog in the vicinity of a place where livestock had been injured or killed, and the defendant reasonably believed that the dog had been involved in the injury or killing, and there were no practicable means of seizing the dog or ascertaining to whom it belonged;
            And he was the person in charge of the livestock; and he notified, within 48 hours, the member in charge at the nearest Garda station to the place where the dog was shot in the incident.

            https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/sheep/are-farmers-within-their-rights-to-shoot-dogs-which-attack-sheep-34539095.html

    1. Cool_Hand_Lucan

      I don’t think any sane minded farmer wants to go down the route of slaying dozens of beagles, even if it is to protect his/her farm.

      I’d suggest a few shots in the air to scare them. Or a can of deodorant to feck with their noses. My beagle used to be brought to heel whenever he saw me reach for the Lynx Africa.

  5. some old queen

    Ok a little lesson in the social nature of cows and then I will stop.

    If a farmer heads into a field with his dog, the cows won’t be too bothered because they know the dog but, if that same farmer arrives with a new dog the cows will line up as a barrier between it and their calves. As the strange dog moves around the field, so does the cow wall, and that’s just a single collie.

    So imagine the anxiety caused by what appears to be a pack of howling wolves (hunt) even half a mile away. The closer they come, the more panicked the cows get and even if the hunt is just passing on the road with the dogs in check (highly unlikely), they are now in complete terror mode. And that’s not even considering the impact on wildlife.

    Farmers are way more in tune with the ecosystem than most urbanites give them credit for. They respect the land because that is how they make their living. Very few will allow hunts because they cause chaos and carnage. It is a disgrace that hunts are still allowed in Ireland. They serve no purpose apart from cruelty and suffering.They should be banned.

    Rant over.

    1. barelylegal

      Fair enough. It’s hardly a rant, there were a lot of facts presented here in a calm and considered way.
      Cows are beautiful and intelligent animals and it’s no wonder Simone de Beauvoir compared the human female to a cow although the cows were hardly flattered by the comparison.

  6. Harry Molloy

    Round my part of the sticks they have “hunts” a few times per year that are really hunts in name only.

    They are organised well in advance where the route across the fields is chosen with the permission of the landowners and a commitment to repair all of the walls and fences that are damaged immediately.

    It’s an excuse for anyone with a horse that jumps, whether prince or pauper, to head out for the day chasing a pack of dogs and having the craic with the rest of the riders and the locals that have gathered to cheer you on.

    There is no hunt and the hounds don’t even follow a scent , they just follow the hunt master who is out ahead and picks the point at which tho walls will be jumped. The riders are very respectful and stick to the agreed route and ensure they travel across tho fields in single file to avoid cutting up the land.

    All in all it’s a great day out, the dogs get a good run, the horses get a good run, the riders get to jump their horses, and the farmers and locals enjoy the spectacle. And no animals get terrified or killed.

    So you don’t have to hunt to enjoy the hunt. But maybe that’s easier when you have no tradition of actual hunting.

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