John Fitzgerald
New Kit
As I've mentioned in my brief introduction, I'm an Irish animal proetction campaigner and have been involved for many years, more than three decades, in lobbying for the protection of the Irish Hare and our rabbit population from cruel exploitation.
My main efforts have been directed against hare coursing, and I'm happy to see that Britain has banned that particular practise. I should explain, though, that the type of coursing permitted here is different from the kind known in the UK...here in Ireland the "action" takes place in large wired enclosures, so the hares don't actually escape.
If they are not struck or mauled by the pursuing greyhounds (which are muzzled), they merely run through a little hatch in the field/enclosure and back into captivity.
Anyway, what I really wanted to reflect on was not so much hare coursing, but rather how caring for animals, or campaigning on their behalf, actually impacts on the "carers"...Being a friend of animals can be, and is, most rewarding, but when I reflect on my thirty years of campaigning I shudder at some of the things I've experienced.
For taking a stand, and a PEACEFUL one at that, against hare coursing (by writing to newspapers and peaceful pickets), in a rural district where coursing was relatively strong, I really paid the price of compassion!
I was assaulted in my workplace by coursing fans, subjected to all sorts of bullying, and generally pushed around.
It's one thing to oppose hare coursing from the relative safety of an urban dsitrict, but when you actually live "behind enemy lines" I suppose you have to expect soem of I had to endure.
Still, I believe it has been worth it. I've recounted my experience of the ups and downs of being a campaigner in a recently published book "Bad Hare Days", for the benefit of anyone else who finds himself or herself in a similar predicament. It's a factual memoir, and if it reads like fiction at times that's because a lot of what I went through was well and truly stranger than fiction!
What I like about the Rabbits United Forum is that it provides a pleasant virtual "meeting place" for all of us who wish to extend the human circle of compassion to include our furry friends!
My main efforts have been directed against hare coursing, and I'm happy to see that Britain has banned that particular practise. I should explain, though, that the type of coursing permitted here is different from the kind known in the UK...here in Ireland the "action" takes place in large wired enclosures, so the hares don't actually escape.
If they are not struck or mauled by the pursuing greyhounds (which are muzzled), they merely run through a little hatch in the field/enclosure and back into captivity.
Anyway, what I really wanted to reflect on was not so much hare coursing, but rather how caring for animals, or campaigning on their behalf, actually impacts on the "carers"...Being a friend of animals can be, and is, most rewarding, but when I reflect on my thirty years of campaigning I shudder at some of the things I've experienced.
For taking a stand, and a PEACEFUL one at that, against hare coursing (by writing to newspapers and peaceful pickets), in a rural district where coursing was relatively strong, I really paid the price of compassion!
I was assaulted in my workplace by coursing fans, subjected to all sorts of bullying, and generally pushed around.
It's one thing to oppose hare coursing from the relative safety of an urban dsitrict, but when you actually live "behind enemy lines" I suppose you have to expect soem of I had to endure.
Still, I believe it has been worth it. I've recounted my experience of the ups and downs of being a campaigner in a recently published book "Bad Hare Days", for the benefit of anyone else who finds himself or herself in a similar predicament. It's a factual memoir, and if it reads like fiction at times that's because a lot of what I went through was well and truly stranger than fiction!
What I like about the Rabbits United Forum is that it provides a pleasant virtual "meeting place" for all of us who wish to extend the human circle of compassion to include our furry friends!