Oct 02 2005
The head of a snake, the neck of a drake, a back like a beam, a side like a bream, the tail of a rat and the foot of a cat.
The Last Waterloo Cup was a show on the BBC during the week. All about, as you may have guessed, the waterloo cup. So what is the Waterloo Cup? Well, it was an annual festival of greyhound coursing, but this is the last year it is going to be held as hunting with dogs has been made illegal in Britain.
Now, on a gut level I dislike the idea of coursing for sport. I mean, how can it be enjoyable to watch two dogs chase after, and rip apart, a hare? But watching some of it… It looks fantastic. The dogs are shit fast, and unlike greyhound racing, they have to swerve and turn because the hare can turn, at speed, in a body length. The dog cannot.
I’ve read, but don’t know how accurate these figures are, that one in five hares is caught and killed by the greyhounds, and that it can take up to 30 seconds for the hare to die.
Now, is that any crueller than shooting? Where you might wound an animal and end up leaving it to a lingering death?
I don’t think I’d ever be a fan of coursing. But I’m not sure if I agree with the ban as it seems to be in Britain (or is it just England?). I mean, is it wrong to use dogs if you are hunting for food? And not just for flushing purposes?
Of course, if, as it seems, the Irish Hare population is in danger of extinction, then surely we in Ireland should introduce a law to protect the animal rather than one which simply bans everything?
As far as I know coursing is legal here, but the dogs are muzzled. And I’ve seen pictures of muzzled dogs chasing lures, which seems a bit bizarre. Still, just like the “people out of work” argument used in relation to fox-hunting, can’t they just organise drag-hunting or lure coursing?
Tags: animal activists, blood sports, coursing, cruel, dogs, greyhound, hare, illegal sports, Waterloo Cup
