Bad Hare Days

By John Fitzgerald

Book Id: WPLBN0002117997
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 7.96 MB
Reproduction Date: 12/7/2011

Title:	Bad Hare Days
Author:	John Fitzgerald
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Non-Fiction, L Education, Endangered Species - Irish Hare
Collections:	Education, Authors Community, Recreation, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Sociology, Literature, Most Popular Books in China, Law, Medicine, Government, Language, Political Science, History
Historic Publication Date:	2011
Publisher:	Callan Press

Member Page:	John Fitzgerald
Citation APA MLA Chicago Fitzgerald, B. J. (2011). Bad Hare Days. Retrieved from http://self.gutenberg.org/

Description
In Ireland the humble hare has been the subject of great controversy. After years of an abusive sport, which resulted in its child-like death screams being heard regularly throughout Ireland, a result was achieved. For those few dedicated people trying desperately to save the gentle creature from the horrors of the cruel sport of hare coursing, the struggle was painful and fought against great odds. The author writes about his experience of a campaign against this barbaric blood sport, focusing mainly on a controversial phase in the 1980s when the State deployed a police heavy gang to suppress anti-coursing activism. The author’s own peaceful and non-violent action and that of, initially, a few others' did arouse the public and achieve what at first appeared to be a hard-won benefit to the hare. But the hare's troubles were - and are -far from over. Though it can no longer be torn apart by greyhounds, now muzzled, it can still be mauled, injured, and tossed about like a rag doll on the coursing field. In addition to highlighting the hare's sad plight, this is also a campaigner's story. The author recounts vividly the ups and downs of his own fight against animal cruelty. He and others paid a major price for their role in the campaign. The gentle hare, apart from its use and abuse in coursing, has now become an endangered species in Ireland, and this book reinforces its right to be protected.

Excerpt
Every cause carries a price tag. It makes demands on your time…on your family and social life. It can bring discomfort, enmity, misunderstanding, and social isolation, though these downsides can to some degree be offset by the sense of camaraderie that comes with being part of a group or campaign involving people from all walks of life. I paid a high price for my campaigning. The loss of my job with a Farmers Co-operative at a time when jobs were scarce in Ireland; followed by arrests, lengthy interrogations, false accusations of guilt, and five tension-racked, emotionally shattering court cases. All for my efforts on behalf of the humble hare, a creature hailed in Irish legend and folklore, a proud part of my country’s wildlife heritage, but that Irish law permits to be abused in a cruel game of chance called hare coursing…one of the world’s most barbaric blood sports

Table of Contents
1. View to a Blooding -- 8 -- 2. A Living Link -- 13 -- 3. Supper with the Hare Catchers -- 16 -- 4. Crusading Zeal -- 20 -- 5. A Tin-Pot Coliseum -- 22 -- 6. My First Sight of the "Antis" -- 26 -- 7. How to Resist? -- 29 -- 8. Michael D Bids to End Hare Coursing -- 31 -- 9. I Join the Campaign -- 35 -- 10. Coping with Bullies -- 38 -- 11. Tensions Mount -- 40 -- 12. Threats and "Friendly Advice" -- . 43 -- 13. Punch-bag Day at the Co-op -- 49 -- 14. "Get Rid of the Thundering Eejit!" -- 54 -- 15. The Fixer and the Foreman -- 56 -- 16. "A Catch 22 Situation" -- 60 -- 17. Limbo -- 64 -- 18. Constructive Dismissal -- 67 -- 19. "Inflammatory letters" -- . 70 -- 20. "A Co-op is Like a Church" -- 73 -- 21. A Curious Sense of Elation -- 78 -- 22. "Ye're Not Wanted in These Parts" -- 81 -- 23. Showdown in Tipperary -- 83 -- 24. Sabotage -- 88 -- 25. Don't Wake the Cat -- 90 -- 26. Duress -- 94 -- 27. Capitulation -- 101 -- 28. Learning About Section 30 -- 106 -- 29. The Bigger Picture -- 111 -- 30. Freed Hares, Glassed Fields, and Burning Haybarns -- 115 -- 31. Second Visit -- 118 32. The Tipsy Branchman -- 123 -- 33. Another "Little Statement" -- 127 -- 34. Holding Out -- 131 -- 35. Losing my Seat -- 135 -- 36. An Appalling Vista -- 139 -- 37. Drinking on Duty -- 143 -- 38. Tricks and Threats -- 148 -- 39. False Charges -- 153 -- 40. A Bird Man or a Hare Man? -- 154 -- 41. Arra Sees the Light -- 156 -- 42. Kafkaesque -- . 158 -- 43. The Book of (Fabricated) Evidence -- 161 -- 44. Making a Hare of Justice -- 166 -- 45. Opening Shots -- 170 -- 46. "Che Guevara" Takes the Stand -- 173 -- 47. Sevenhouses Coursing Club, Pray For Us! -- 179 -- 48. Legalistic Ping-Pong -- 182 -- 49. The Prosecution Takes a Hit -- 185 -- 50. Perchance to Dream -- . 189 -- 51. "Daddy, Mammy and Uncle Tom" -- 190 -- 52. Closing Speeches -- 195 -- 53. Waiting . -- 199 -- 54. Deadlock -- 202 -- 55. Aftershocks -- 205 -- 56. A Political Legend Joins the Battle Against Hare Coursing -- 210 -- 57. The Campaign Goes International -- . 212 -- 58. Democracy Denied -- 215 -- 59. Muzzling Cruelty -- 218 -- 60. An Anti-Hare Coursing Protest -- On Fifth Avenue -- . 219 -- 61. The Irish Hare Still Cries Out For Protection -- 223 -- Epilogue -- 229 -- Glossary of Words That May Be Unfamiliar Outside Ireland -- 232 -- Reviews of Bad Hare Days -- 234