THE RECENT COURSING MEETING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2522, 8 June 1909, Page 3

THE RECENT COURSING MEETING.

THE QUESTION OF CRUELTY

[To the Editor.]

Sir,---In order that the public may understand the position of this Society in reference to the. late Coursing Club’s meeting, herewith I hand you copy of letter addressed to the Club prior to the meeting, and copy also of our Inspector’s report on the conduct of triie same. The. general condemnation the so-called sport has met with from all classes of the community should in itself be a strong factor in preventing a recurrence of such an exhibition. It is to be hoped that legislation in the near future will effectually make such an affair illegal, but; in the meantime it cannot be thought that the ,!rw would countenance any cruelty in or n•'netcion therewith that might be avoidable ;and if evidence to warrant legal steps being taken is forthcoming the Society will gladly set the law in motion'. —I am, etc., H. M. PORTER, Hon. Sec. -East Coast Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The following .is the report referred to above: — Gisborno, June 1909. Dear Sir, —I bqg to lay before you some facts relating to the recent coursing meeting held in Gisborne. As you are aware, as soon as I learned that the Gisborno Coursing Club had decided to hold a coursing meeting I called your committee together to decide what could be done in the matter. Your committee recognised that the law allowed coursing and all we could do was to see that there was no 1? wilful cruelty. . On the 31st ult. the following letter was written to the secretary of the Coursing Club: ‘Dear sir, —In reference to your meeting on 3rd. and 4th. provimo, I am directed by the Executive of this Society to inform you that, while it ■regrets that enclosed coursing is not at present illegal, the law does not countenance any acts of unnecessary cruelty, and if such takes place the Society will prosecute. The Society’s inspector has been directed to be present, and if, in his opinion and that of competent judges, such cruelty nappens, action will follow. Tlio Society has no desire to act in any arbitrary manner, and therefore sends this precautionary letter, but on principle cannot countenance any cruelty to dumb animals.' On Thursday, June 3rd (the first day of tlio coursing) I -proceeded to the grounds and examined the- conditions in order to ascertain what precautions had been taken to prevent cruelty to the hares. .

I made various suggestions to' check possible cruelty, and these were given effect to by the committee. I found that some of the hares were too weak to run the course and was asked by the secretary to act as ‘hare steward.’ This I declined to do, but agreed to notify ‘the Club’s official when I considered a hare was too weak.

I did this in everv case but I regret to say that this official, evidently in the excitement, lost liis head on some occasions and lowered his Hag against my instructions, with the result that the hares were immediately caught- by the dogs and killed. On other occasions the slip steward failed to recognise that the flag was hoisted and also in the excitement of the moment, slipped the dogs on to the weak hares, and on other occasions the dogs were slipped too quickly, and on three or four occasions the dogs broke away too scon on account of the coupling not being, properly adjusted; on each of these occasions the hare had no chance of escape and was caught and killed owing, no doubt, to the fact that this was the first coursing meeting held in Gisborne, and the officials were ignorant of the method of arranging the course. s

The percentage of kills was very much heavier than it should have been; twenty-three hares being killed out of about forty courses, while the number of hares killed at Auckland was only six for two days and only three were killed at the last Wellington meeting. L might give you some of the reasons why go many of the deaths occurred at the Gisborne meeting. In the first place, in addition to the weak hares already referred to, the majority of hares were new to the escapes, having been brought from the South Island the previous -week, when they should be trained to run to the course for at least six weeks or two months. Another reason that led to so many kills was that immediately on being released from the boxes their attention was attracted by the refreshment tent immediately in 'front of them, by the. public stand a little further on, and so terrified the hares that they did not see the dogs until they were on them. Even when the hares reached the brush of the escapes they were not safe, for in some instances through the brush being so thin the dogs followed the hares through and brought them back again to be coursed The escape holes were not sufficiently numerous to let the hares) through; instead of a few holes the escapes should bo run the full width' of the course.

In conclusion) I might state that coursing under any condition is, in my opinion, cruel and does not tend to raise the- moral standard of those who either take part in it or patronise it. However, it i s a legal “sport” and until made illegal by legislation wo can only act as arbitrators between the “sport” and “cruelty.” If wilful cruelty is nractised we can .step in and, if, in the opinion of the Society the actions of the Coursing Club Officials constitute cruelty I am quite prepared to take action.—l am, yours obediently. H. THELWALL, Inspector.

LETTERS TO' THE EDITOR

[To the Editor.]

Sir, —Noticing several letters in your paper re the Poverty Bay Blumpton coursing re the cruelty, kindly allow me to place a few remarks about sport '(one and all). 11l shooting, whether it he pheasant, partridge, grouse, quail, duck, snipe, or woodcock, there is alAvays.a certain percentage of wounded birds that get away ungathered, to die a slow and painful death. In deer stalking many deer get a bullet through them and die a slow arid painful death. In fox hunting 26, couple of hounds worry (hunting from scent to vieSv) a fox for several hours, and eventually kill by tearing him limb from limb—a long and painful death. With harriers, 15 to 26 couple of hounds hunt from scent to view several hours, and eventually kill by tearing limb from limb—a long and painful death. In fishing, after placing, a- live minnow on a book and then catching your fish, play him for half-an-hour. and then land lum. to die on shore, . which in soffio instances’. • '■ ■ &

takes some while—a long and painful death. The above sjiorts I have had personal experience of for years. Nothing is said of the poor rabbits caught by trappers in traps early in the evening, and remaining with broken legs, etc., until they are taken out by tho rabbiter in the morning, spending many hours in acute agony.. No, because they touch the pocket, and are therefore. classed as vermin. - Nothing is said of the sheep farmer who shears his sheep early in October, and several perish from the cold—a slow and painful death. No, because an early clip fills his pocket. Nothing is said of the station owner about de-hqrning cattle, which, in my opinion, nothing could bo more harbarious and'cruel. No, because it suits his convenience, so that he can yard them closer and so save,, his time and . pocket. Nothing is said about the whaler who kills his whale by harpoons, which is a very slow and painful death. No, because it fills his pocket. 1 Open coursing and plumpton coursing I have had many years experience of, and know that more hares ’ are killed in the open, the only difference being that in open coursing it takes about three times as long to kil’. and not infrequently the hares die from exhaustion. I can safely say that in open coursing you can witness nine kills out of ten courses. Such has been ’proved in our district times out of number. So why have plumpton coursing, where every provision is made for the hare to escape and well provided for, barred ? I would have the public to ’clearly understand that out of 52 courses only 23 hares were killed by the dogs.—l am, etc., )- C. MORSE. [To the Editor.] Sir, —I am a colonial of rather ten e’er years, and had it not been for your well-timed editorial of last Saturday would be still considerably in the dark as to the merits or demerits of coursing, and as to whether it really earned the- title of the advertisement—“ The King of Sports.” One or two friends of mine who had been acquainted with the alleged sport in the Old Country declared it was absolutely the greatest of all sports,_ another said I would thoroughly enjoy it when I “got used to it.” However, since your editorial no one has come forward to show cause why the ) sport should continue. I have no doubt that many will exclaim that it is “historical,” and because my ancestors indulged in it it is ,therefore “quite the thing.” I may remark, Mr. Editor, that I have indulged in almost every known vice to some extent, a fact I am not too proud of; but I shall be only too pleased to refrain from giving tho “King of Sports” my support. In conclusion, it is regrettable that our present Mayor lias not thought fit to express himself in more humane terms than his maudling apology for the weakness of tho hares.—l am, do., “PRO BONO PUBLICO.” (To the Editor.)

Sir, —In reference to David Morrison’s letter of June 7th, I would like to state that when hares are sent to Gisl>orne they are well provided for, being fed on crushed oats," mangolds, swedes, etc., each day of the journey, and each shipment that has arrived were in the best of condition. These hares are well catered for while on the plumpton. Referring to tlio percentage of hares killed, David Morrison goes on to say that nine out of ten hares were killed. Now, is this statement correct or not? I shall say it is false. Now, did David Morrison or anyone else at tlio Coursing Club’s opening meeting see any hares torn in two as this gentleman would like to convince the public 1 sav no. —I am, etc., • “FAIR PLAY.”