Keeping the stag hunt issue running

The Government plans to ban stag hunting, but this week the pro-hunt movement continued to lobby for a turnaround

THE BACKGROUND

Wild deer are a protected species in Ireland, and the national herd is managed by conservation rangers employed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. To keep the deer population under control, licences are issued to shooting clubs which entitle gun-holders to stalk and shoot deer.

However, there is also a minority tradition of hunting a male red deer (a stag) with a pack of hounds followed by hunstmen on horseback. Only one stag hunt, the Ward Union, operates in Ireland – under licence from the Department of the Environment. This type of hunting does not involve randomly chasing deer “in the wild”. Instead, the Ward Union maintains its own private herd of deer.

WHY IS THE ISSUE ON THE POLITICAL AGENDA?

Legislation to ban stag hunting was approved by the Cabinet recently and is scheduled to be debated by the Oireachtas in the weeks ahead and passed into law by the summer.

The Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2010 was included in the Programme for Governmentat the insistence of the Green Party who say it is necessary to prevent cruelty to animals and also to ensure public safety in an increasingly urban environment.

WHO WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE STAG HUNTING BAN?

The Ward Union Hunt Club, founded in 1854, and now based in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, hunts over land in Meath and north Co Dublin. During the hunting season, which runs from October to March, the hunt meets twice a week and has “200 riding members”. It employs four full-time staff and claims to contribute €1.4 million to the local economy. The hunt also collects the carcasses of dead animals from farms which, it says, offers “an essential service to local farmers”.

WHAT HAPPENS AT A STAG HUNT?

According to the Ward Union, “a mature, healthy deer from the deer park is segregated from the herd and transported to a selected location in a purpose- built transporter” known as a cart. (For this reason, stag hunting is also known as “carted deer hunting”.) The stag is then released and, after a while, the “huntsman introduces a restricted number of hounds and the deer is pursued by its scent” followed by members of the hunt on horseback. The Ward Union says that the purpose of the hunt is “to pit the skills of the huntsman, his hounds and that of the mounted followers against the prowess of one of Ireland’s most prolific quarry over rural terrain”.

IS THE STAG KILLED?

No. “At the end of the chase,” according to the Ward Union, “the deer either evades capture or is brought to bay – rather like sheep by a sheepdog – and captured manually by designated followers. Upon capture the deer is repatriated to the deer reservation where, after a period of observation, he rejoins the herd.”

IS STAG HUNTING CRUEL?

Yes, say animal rights’ activists who believe stag hunting causes “horrific suffering to defenceless red deer”. They claim it is “chased to exhaustion” and “subjected to a distressing ordeal”. They describe the “sport” as a “barbaric activity” which has “no place in a civilised society”.

No, says the Ward Union, which claims that each stag in its herd is hunted just once a year under “constant supervision of Department of the Environment wild life officers and veterinarians”. The stag is “health-checked before and after a hunt” and, despite “exhaustive and extensive monitoring”, it claims that “no excess stress levels have been recorded as it is perfectly natural for a flight animal, like a stag, to be hunted”.

WHO WANTS TO BAN STAG HUNTING?

Political support for the ban is led by the Green Party which has secured Fianna Fáil support. A number of animal rights’ groups – including the Irish Council Against Blood Sports and the Association of Hunt Saboteurs Ireland – have long been campaigning for a ban.

WHO SUPPORTS STAG HUNTING?

In addition to the Ward Union, a “grassroots” campaign group called Rural Ireland Says Enough! (RISE!) which claims to represent 16 organisations and “more than 300,000 people involved in country sports”. They believe that the ban on stag hunting is “the thin end of the wedge” because, if the legislation is passed, other field sports, such as fox hunting, hare coursing, shooting and angling, will eventually be targeted.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Both the Dáil and the Seanad will debate and then vote on the Bill. RISE! and the Ward Union are continuing to campaign “vigorously” against the proposal and this week began a series of “briefing days” for TDs and senators.

Fine Gael has decided to oppose the Bill (and, if it is passed, repeal it if elected to government). The Labour Party, Sinn Féin and most independent TDs have yet to reveal their hand.

Some rural Fianna Fáil backbenchers have expressed concern but the party’s leadership has committed to supporting the legislation.

WILL DEER STALKING BE AFFECTED?

No. The Bill will not ban the licensed shooting of deer. However, RISE! claims that “the Bill could have some serious consequences for people licensed to hunt deer with guns” because it “outlaws deer stalking using more than one hound”. Many such hunters use more than one dog.

WHAT ABOUT FARMERS WHOSE LAND IS BEING DAMAGED BY WILD DEER?

Landowners will continue to be able to apply for permission “to use dogs to drive deer off land where they are causing serious damage to tree plantations or crops”.

ARE THERE ANY PLANS TO BAN OTHER TYPES OF HUNTING OR FIELD SPORTS?

Despite the fears expressed by RISE!, the Government says it has no plans to ban other field sports.

The Green Party has stated that its policy objective is to eventually ban fox hunting and hare coursing but accepts that such measures will not happen “during the lifetime of this Government”.