THE anti blood sports policy of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) is to be upheld, the incoming president of the society said yesterday.
Ms Marion Fitzgibbon (Limerick) was elected president at the annual general meeting of the society in Dublin on Saturday. The event was picketed by anti blood sports campaigners who claimed that blood sports supporters were trying to infiltrate the ISPCA.
Ms Fitzgibbon conceded that some members undoubtedly favoured blood sports. "We cannot prevent that. We live in a democracy. But the majority of people, especially young people, who are involved with the ISPCA support its anti blood sports policy.
Debate on the issue dominated the meeting, at which an attempt was made to censure the North Tipperary society, which has publicly supported fox hunting. A motion of censure was not put to the meeting because of legal advice that this would require a change in the society's rules.
Ms Fitzgibbon said that more emphasis should be placed on teaching young people about care of animals. There was a danger of concentrating too much on the fox hunting controversy and losing sight of the wider welfare issues. Because of the BSE scare, calves were being slaughtered soon after birth. The ISPCA should have a voice on that issue.
She called on the Irish Veterinary Union to make its views known on the use of the bolt gun to put down dogs. The ISPCA favoured euthanasia by injection, and that was the method used in most pounds. However, while the ISPCA operated 13 pounds, local authorities operated 17 others, and the ISPCA had no control over these.