Bad Hare Days One man’s fight against a cruel blood sport! By John Fitzgerald In Ireland the humble hare has been the subject of great controversy. After years of an abusive sport, which resulted in its child-like death screams being heard regularly throughout Ireland, a result was achieved. For those few dedicated people trying desperately to save the gentle creature from the horrors of the cruel sport of hare coursing, the struggle was painful and fought against great odds. The author writes about his experience of a campaign against this barbaric blood sport, focusing mainly on a controversial phase in the 1980s when the State deployed a police heavy gang to suppress anti-coursing activism. The author’s own peaceful and non-violent action and that of, initially, a few others' did arouse the public and achieve what at first appeared to be a hard-won benefit to the hare. But the hare's troubles were - and are -far from over. Though it can no longer be torn apart by greyhounds, now muzzled, it can still be mauled, injured, and tossed about like a rag doll on the coursing field. In addition to highlighting the hare's sad plight, this is also a campaigner's story. The author recounts vividly the ups and downs of his own fight against animal cruelty. He and others paid a major price for their role in the campaign. The gentle hare, apart from its use and abuse in coursing, has now become an endangered species in Ireland, and this book reinforces its right to be protected. About the Author John Fitzgerald is a free-lance journalist and writer living in Callan, County Kilkenny, Ireland. Before taking up these twin pursuits, he had worked for almost a decade in a farmers' Co-operative, during which time he wrote hundreds of letters to newspapers exposing cruelty to animals in general, but hare coursing in particular, as part of a national campaign against blood sports in Ireland. He has been involved for almost three decades in Ireland's anti-hare coursing movement and the present book focuses on a tumultuous phase in the campaign that had a devastating immediate and long-term impact on his life. John Fitzgerald has contributed articles to a number of national and provincial Irish newspapers and to the popular Ireland's Own magazine. He is also the author of four previous books, all dealing with aspects of his native county's heritage, history, and folklore: Kilkenny – People Places Faces, Kilkenny – A Blast from the Past, Callan in the Rare Old Times, Callan through the Mists of Time and Are We Invaded Yet? Bad Hare Days Published by Callan Press (First published by Olympia Publishers 2008) Copyright (c) John Fitzgerald 2011 No part of this e book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the author. Contents 1. View to a Blooding .......................................................................................................................................... 8 2. A Living Link .................................................................................................................................................. 13 3. Supper with the Hare Catchers......................................................................................................................... 16 4. Crusading Zeal................................................................................................................................................. 20 5. A Tin-Pot Coliseum ......................................................................................................................................... 22 6. My First Sight of the "Antis" ........................................................................................................................... 27 7. How to Resist? ................................................................................................................................................. 30 8. Michael D Bids to End Hare Coursing ............................................................................................................ 32 9. I Join the Campaign ......................................................................................................................................... 36 10. Coping with Bullies ....................................................................................................................................... 39 11. Tensions Mount ............................................................................................................................................. 41 12. Threats and "Friendly Advice" ...................................................................................................................... 44 13. Punch-bag Day at the Co-op ........................................................................................................................ 50 14. "Get Rid of the Thundering Eejit!" ................................................................................................................ 55 15. The Fixer and the Foreman ............................................................................................................................ 57 16. "A Catch 22 Situation"................................................................................................................................... 61 17. Limbo... ......................................................................................................................................................... 66 18. Constructive Dismissal .................................................................................................................................. 69 19. "Inflammatory letters".................................................................................................................................... 72 20. "A Co-op is Like a Church"........................................................................................................................... 76 21. A Curious Sense of Elation............................................................................................................................ 81 22. "Ye're Not Wanted in These Parts"................................................................................................................ 84 23. Showdown in Tipperary................................................................................................................................. 86 24. Sabotage......................................................................................................................................................... 91 25. Don't Wake the Cat ........................................................................................................................................ 93 26. Duress .. ......................................................................................................................................................... 97 27. Capitulation.................................................................................................................................................... 104 28. Learning About Section 30 ............................................................................................................................ 110 29. The Bigger Picture ......................................................................................................................................... 115 30. Freed Hares, Glassed Fields, and Burning Haybarns..................................................................................... 119 31. Second Visit................................................................................................................................................... 122 32. The Tipsy Branchman.................................................................................................................................... 127 33. Another "Little Statement"............................................................................................................................. 131 34. Holding Out ................................................................................................................................................... 135 35. Losing my Seat .............................................................................................................................................. 139 36. An Appalling Vista ........................................................................................................................................ 143 37. Drinking on Duty ........................................................................................................................................... 147 38. Tricks and Threats.......................................................................................................................................... 152 39. False Charges................................................................................................................................................. 157 40. A Bird Man or a Hare Man? .......................................................................................................................... 159 41. Arra Sees the Light ........................................................................................................................................ 161 42. Kafkaesque....................................................................................................................................................