Madam, – I notice pages from the first edition of The Irish Timesfrom March 1859 feature coverage of hunting and hare-coursing events, including a mention of the now somewhat more controversial Ward Union Stag Hunt.
We have moved on in many ways since 1859, but what an indictment of our ostensibly progressive and enlightened society that we still have these hideous cruelties masquerading as “sport” in our midst.
They are no more prohibited now in Ireland than they were 150 years ago – though the country that gave us these socially respectable forms of animal cruelty, Britain, has since abolished them.
But at least The Irish Times, to its credit, is no longer promoting or publicising the recreational killing of wildlife in its sports pages, a humane innovation yet to be adopted by quite a few national and provincial newspapers.
Is it not shameful enough that Ireland still permits the hounding of animals to exhaustion, injury, or death for sport, without also lauding the fact in its news media? – Yours, etc,