Just having a dip into the new Animal Welfare Act 2013.
The Irish government are admitting that hunting, coursing and fishing are cruel. But they’re not going to do anything about it.
Am sure I must be misunderstanding but …
Section 12 – Prohibition on animal cruelty
Pardon me paraphrasing the first ten subsections, but the act doesn’t appear to be copyable in the form I have it and I’m not about to type the whole thing out. Basically those first sections mostly say
Blah blah being cruel to animals is illegal and shall be punished
All well and good (though not entirely, but let’s leave those details for the moment).
THEN subsection 11 says:
(11) Nothing in this section applies in relation to anything which occurs in the ordinary course of –
a) fishing,
b) lawfully hunting an animal, unless the animal is released in an injured, mutilated or exhausted condition, or
c) lawfully coursing a hare, unless the hare is hunted or coursed in a space from which is does not have a reasonable chance of escape.
So … erm … let me get this right … animal cruelty is NOT prohibited by this Act in the cases of fishing, hunting and hare coursing. Good to know where the government stands on that one.
In case you didn’t get that the first time round, let me just reiterate – animal cruelty is explicitly and legally allowed by the government in Ireland under certain circumstances – fishing, hunting and coursing.
Or, put another way, the Irish government are admitting that hunting, coursing and fishing are cruel. But they’re not going to do anything about it.
As far as I can tell with a general search neither fishing, hunting nor coursing is mentioned anywhere else in the Act.
*hysterical laughter*
Now, it’s entirely possible I’ve read this wrong. Please do let me know if, and how, I’ve misunderstood if that is the case. I’m always open to discussion.