Last year I published my novel “Time to Stop Running,” a fantasy about the adventures of a hare who's snatched from an Irish offshore island (which is inhabited by hares) by a cruel gang of hare coursers who arrive in boats.
SIR – While the recent RTÉ (Ireland's national TV channel) programme "Greyhounds Running for the Lives" focused mainly on the shocking ill-treatment of greyhounds in Ireland, and the industry that allows to happen, the programme also featured an intriguing piece on the activities of hare coursers.
This latter section was shocking in itself, but for me it was also a classic case of life imitating art...
Last year I published my novel “Time to Stop Running,” a fantasy about the adventures of a hare who's snatched from an Irish offshore island (which is inhabited by hares) by a cruel gang of hare coursers who arrive in boats,
In the RTÉ programme, real-life hare coursers arrive on Whiddy Island aboard a ferry to subject the gentle, peace-loving hares to the terrors of their so-called "sport"...
Coursing clubs also capture hares on Whiddy for fixtures on the mainland.
Sometimes you can avail of a work of fiction to get across a message or heighten awareness of an issue.
I hope I can do that with the novel, though nothing can beat a TV expose that blows away all the myths and cover-ups that have sustained the greyhound / coursing "industry" in Ireland.
John Fitzgerald,
Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports,
Lower Coyne Street,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.
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