Limerick Racecourse Coursing Petition

[Carraghs Gem 1,675]

Well ive shared it all over facebook, best i can do at minute

[marty42 18]

done

[sparks.ie 2]

888 (us) -v- 1147 (ICABS) so far. The signatures are tailing off again after a spike when the CAI and ICC sent out emails looking for support:

[sparks.ie 2]

Typical, the first time I get properly ill in ages and it's right as we pass the thousand mark

Right now we're up to 1130 and ICABS is up to 1240. The petition is going to stay open, but I've printed off a copy of what we have so far and I sent it into Limerick Racecourse with the following cover letter:

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

As you may know, the Irish Council Against Blood Sports is currently gathering signatures for a petition against hare coursing at Limerick Racecourse.

Over the last few months, more and more people from the fieldsports community have been getting annoyed at the tactics of groups like ICABS, such as trying to convince yourselves that it would have negative repercussions for your business's public image to be associated with coursing despite all the evidence to the contrary.
More and more, we are seeing ordinary individual members of this community arguing against groups like ICABS via social media on news sites and putting forward their point of view. This trend is increasing.

When I saw the ICABS petition, I started a counter-petition, as a grass-roots effort to show a business which was facing an ICABS protest, that there are far more people – and far more revenue to be had – supporting fieldsports than not. I am not associated with any hunting or coursing group whatsoever, nor do I hunt nor do I course – I simply looked at the evidence involved.
I sought out research on the effect of coursing on the Irish Hare and found that it shows that in areas where coursing clubs operate, they cause a dramatic rise in the local population of the Irish Hare. Given the pressure from modern agriculture on the their habitat, it seems that coursing is one of the few things keeping the Irish Hare off the endangered species list.
This fact alone is sufficient reason to continue to support coursing clubs, in my mind; but I appreciate from a business's point of view, potential PR damage is a concern. Hence, this petition, started to show that while ICABS et al have a total population in Ireland of approximately 50 people, the fieldsports community number approximately 400,000.

The petiton is still running; it will not end for some weeks yet. However, please find enclosed a preliminary list of 1,108 signatures. I would also point out that while the ICABS petition contains a disproportionately large number of signatures from animal rights grous around the world, the bulk of our signatures come from ordinary people in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK – and it is far more likely someone on our list will come to Limerick Racecourse to spend their tourist euros than someone from the ICABS petition.
The petition's message is simple – there are more coursers than animal rights protestors. Coursers represent more revenue to you than animal rights protestors do. And the research says that what coursers do, does more good to the Irish Hare than any animal rights protest. So please, when ICABS present their petition, reach for ours and tell them “Thanks, but no thanks”.
Yours Sincerely,

 

So lets keep pushing it. Especially with the Animal Welfare Act in the news this week, and TDs like Clare Daly and Maureen O'Sullivan pushing their opposition to fieldsports in the media as a good reason to vote for them, this is the time to be seen publicly as a larger block of votes than groups like ICABS and ALF and all the others.