Editing Hare coursing (section)

==Controversy==
[[File:Two greyhounds with a hare.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A hare caught by two greyhounds]]
As long ago as 1516, [[Thomas More]] wrote in ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'' that,
{{blockquote|Thou shouldst rather be moved with pity to see a silly innocent hare murdered of a dog, the weak of the stronger, the fearful of the fierce, the innocent of the cruel and unmerciful. Therefore, all this exercise of hunting is a thing unworthy to be used of free men.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOAUm_lzB5gC&q=%22silly+innocent+hare+murdered+%22&pg=PA137|title=Shakespeare Problem Restated|author=Greenwood, G.|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|year=2003|access-date=2008-02-20|page=137|isbn=978-0-7661-4262-6}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>}}

Coursing has long sparked opposition from activists concerned about [[animal welfare]]. In 1892, [[Lady Florence Dixie]] criticised hare coursing as an "aggravated form of torture"<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QlUW4BQk2wcC&q=%22aggravated+form+of+torture%22+coursing&pg=PA121|year=2002|title=In Nature's Name: An Anthology of Women's Writing and Illustration, 1780–1930|author=Gates, B. T.|access-date=2008-06-14|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=121|isbn=978-0-226-28446-0|archive-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020001006/https://books.google.com/books?id=QlUW4BQk2wcC&q=%22aggravated+form+of+torture%22+coursing&pg=PA121|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[League Against Cruel Sports]] was established in 1924 to campaign against [[rabbit]] coursing on [[Lower Morden|Morden Common]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=7242&inst_id=73|publisher=Archives in London and the M25 area|title=League Against Cruel Sports|access-date=2008-02-17|date=September 2003|archive-date=2012-07-16|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716192809/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=7242&inst_id=73|url-status=live}}</ref> and continues to believe that it is wrong to expose animals to the risk of injury or death for human entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.league.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1716 |publisher=League Against Cruel Sports |title=Hare coursing |year=2006 |access-date=2008-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212171132/http://www.league.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=1716 |archive-date=2007-12-12 }}</ref> The [[Waterloo Cup]] became a centrepiece of the campaign against coursing in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/east/series7/hare_coursing.shtml|publisher=BBC|title=End of the road for hare coursing|date=2005-01-24|access-date=2008-02-17|archive-date=2008-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080309113351/http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/east/series7/hare_coursing.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banbloodsports.com/coursing.htm|title=Ban hare coursing|publisher=Irish Council Against Bloodsports|access-date=2008-02-18|year=2003|archive-date=2008-02-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225010700/http://www.banbloodsports.com/coursing.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In opposition, coursing has long enjoyed the fame of being known as "the noblest of field sports" precisely because the death of the hare is not the aim of the sport. Under most regulated forms of coursing only two hounds pursue the hare, the dogs competing against each other for a short time, and allowing the hare a significant chance of escape.

===Welfare arguments===
Until the 1970s, there was a dearth of [[scientific evidence]] on the welfare impact of coursing. The first thorough study was carried out in 1977–79 by the [[Universities Federation for Animal Welfare]] (UFAW), albeit that it said that it was "not easy to draw conclusions from these reports".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence/ufaw.htm |year=2000 |title=Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Submission to the Burns Inquiry |author=Kirkwood, J. |access-date=2008-04-10 |publisher=Defra |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407134933/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/evidence/ufaw.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2009 }}</ref> According to a review of this study conducted for the [[Burns Inquiry]], "Of the 53&nbsp;hares killed, 43&nbsp;had neck injuries, 18&nbsp;of which were inflicted by the handler (as evidenced from a clean break and no teeth marks). No clean breaks were believed to have been caused by dogs (where tooth marks were evident). The UFAW team's assessment was that all chest injuries would have been quickly fatal (in six cases these included a punctured heart); 10&nbsp;animals without neck injuries had chest injuries. Abdominal injuries included six punctured livers, but generally involved a ruptured gut. In the UFAW team's opinion, hindleg and [[Back injury|back injuries]] could have been extremely painful until chest or neck injuries were inflicted".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/research/macdonald/macdonaldfinal.htm |author=MacDonald |title=Management and Control of Populations of Foxes, Deer, Hares, and Mink in England and Wales, and the Impact of Hunting with Dogs, Section 6.2.3.b.ii. |year=2000 |access-date=2008-02-11 |publisher=Defra |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407134946/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/research/macdonald/macdonaldfinal.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2009 }}</ref>

The Burns Inquiry, set up by the UK Government to examine hunting with dogs in [[England and Wales]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/committeedetails/aboutus.htm |title=background to the inquiry |author=Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs |year=1999 |access-date=2008-02-12 |publisher=Defra |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203004548/http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/hunting/inquiry/mainsections/committeedetails/aboutus.htm |archive-date=December 3, 2008 }}</ref> which included coursing, concluded that "We are&nbsp;... satisfied that being pursued, caught and killed by dogs during coursing seriously compromises the welfare of the hare. It is clear, moreover, that, if the dog or dogs catch the hare, they do not always kill it quickly. There can also sometimes be a significant delay, in ''driven'' coursing, before the ''picker-up'' reaches the hare and dispatches it (if it is not already dead). In the case of ''walked-up'' coursing, the delay is likely to be even longer".<ref>{{cite web |author1=Burns, T. |author2=Edwards, V. |author3=Marsh, J. |author4=Soulsby, E. J. L. |author5=Winter, M. |url=http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm47/4763/4763-06.htm#6.68 |title=Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs in England and Wales, paragraph 6.68 |date=2000-06-09 |access-date=2009-08-18 |publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]] |archive-date=2008-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120015435/http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm47/4763/4763-06.htm#6.68 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Welfare arguments in Irish-style coursing===
Since the introduction of muzzling for greyhounds in 1993, deaths to hares are less common, falling from an average of 16% to about 4% of hares coursed (reducing to around 150–200 hares per year). Muzzled dogs are more likely to buffet a hare than to bite it, a factor that may still affect the hare's subsequent survival.<ref name = "Reid Mortality" /> Hares can either die due to injuries sustained by contact with the much larger dogs or due to capture [[myopathy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mikerendle.co.uk/irishhare/Stress%20and%20Capture%20Myopathy%20in%20hares%202006.pdf|author=Rendle, M.|year=2006|title=Stress and Capture Myopathy in Hares|publisher=Irish Hare Initiative|access-date=2008-02-21|archive-date=2008-02-26|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080226201721/http://www.mikerendle.co.uk/irishhare/Stress%20and%20Capture%20Myopathy%20in%20hares%202006.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The report from the official Countryside ranger at the Wexford Coursing Club meeting in December 2003 confirms that, exceptionally, 40 hares died at the event and the report of the [[veterinary surgeon]] who examined the hares blames the "significant stress" of being "corralled and coursed".<ref name="Duchas">{{cite web |url=http://www.league.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_318.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5gKwbnzno?url=http://www.league.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_318.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-04-27 |publisher=Duchas |title=Report on Wexford Coursing event, December 2003 |access-date=2008-02-21 }}</ref> Coursing supporters deny that hare coursing is cruel and say that hares that are injured, pregnant or ill are not allowed to run. Hares are reported to be examined by a vet before and after racing.<ref name="Countryfile"/>

In the context of open (not park) coursing, the (British) National Coursing Club evidence to the Burns Inquiry said that muzzled coursing can cause more suffering than unmuzzled if the coursing officials are not able to reach injured hares quickly.<ref name = "NCC2">{{cite web|url=http://www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk/evidence/coursingclub2.htm|author=[[National Coursing Club]]|title=Evidence to Burns Inquiry, part two|year=2000|publisher=Defra|access-date=2009-08-18|archive-date=2008-07-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727012206/http://www.huntinginquiry.gov.uk/evidence/coursingclub2.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The Irish Council Against Bloodsports, an organisation that campaigns against hare coursing has video evidence that shows this happening, even in enclosed coursing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.banbloodsports.com/v-coursing.htm|publisher=Irish Council Against Bloodsports|title=Video presentations – hare coursing|access-date=2008-02-11|archive-date=2008-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226061141/http://www.banbloodsports.com/v-coursing.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===The kill===
In 2000, the rules of the UK National Coursing Club awarded a point to a greyhound that killed a hare "through superior dash and speed".<ref name="NCC1"/> By early 2003, this rule had been deleted to remove the appearance of the kill incentive.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmstand/f/st030114/pm/30114s08.htm|title=Hansard, Standing Committee F column 200|date=2003-01-14|access-date=2008-02-17|publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]]|archive-date=2009-04-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408054618/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmstand/f/st030114/pm/30114s08.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Observers of hare coursing at the Waterloo Cup – the most important event in the UK coursing calendar until it was last held in 2005&nbsp;– regularly reported a minority of people in the crowd cheering when hares were killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nwlacs.co.uk/archive/waterloo_cup_2005.htm |publisher=North West League Against Cruel Sports |title=Report on 2005 Waterloo Cup |year=2005 |access-date=2008-02-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509133526/http://www.nwlacs.co.uk/archive/waterloo_cup_2005.htm |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}</ref> In 2005 in the US, points were still awarded for a "touch&nbsp;... where the quarry is captured or killed".<ref name="NOFCA rules"/>

The number of hares killed in coursing is unclear. The UK government's [[Burns Inquiry]] which submitted its final report in 2000 said that about 250&nbsp;hares were killed each year in formal coursing.<ref name="Burns 2.53">{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265552/4763.pdf|title=Report of the committee of inquiry into hunting with dogs in England and Wales|author=Burns, T., Edwards, V., Marsh, J., Soulsby, E.J.L. and Winter, M.|publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]]|date=June 9, 2000|access-date=December 24, 2015|archive-date=January 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110100222/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/265552/4763.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> although much larger numbers of kills are believed to take place in informal coursing.  The UK National Coursing Club and the organisers of the now defunct Waterloo Cup said that, on average, one in seven or eight hares coursed were killed.<ref name="NCC2"/> Inspectors from the [[Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] who attended the event estimated that a greater number, one in five hares coursed, was killed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2798493.stm|author=Bocquet, K.|title=Waterloo Cup: The final stand?|publisher=BBC|access-date=December 24, 2015|date=February 25, 2003|archive-date=April 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408035530/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2798493.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 2013 season, the [[National Parks and Wildlife Service (Ireland)|Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service]] oversaw 23 hare coursing meetings.  Over 100 hares "required assistance" after being struck during races, which led to over 20 of them dying of natural causes or having to be euthanised.<ref name="McNamee">{{cite web|author=McNamee, M.S.|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/coursing-greyhounds-hares-injuries-killed-1594220-Jul2014/|publisher=Thejournal.ie|title="It is positively medieval, barbaric": New figures show injuries to hares|date=July 29, 2014|access-date=December 14, 2015|archive-date=January 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105151505/http://www.thejournal.ie/coursing-greyhounds-hares-injuries-killed-1594220-Jul2014/|url-status=live}}</ref>