Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson has written to An Taoiseach Micheál Martin urging him to ban hare coursing in Ireland.
The practice, in which hares are chased by greyhounds, is already banned in Northern Ireland and in Britain and Pamela Anderson has used her role with animal rights organisation PETA to ask Martin to do the same.
Anderson has previously reached out to former Taoisigh Enda Kenny and Leo Varadkar with at similar request and in her letter to Martin she wrote: "As a long time animal rights advocate, I’ve celebrated alongside my friends at PETA after writing to your predecessors and hearing that Ireland had banned wild-animal circuses and would be moving toward ending fur farming. But there’s still more to be done. Will you please be the Taoiseach who finally lays cruel hare coursing to rest?"
The correspondence goes on to say: "Hare coursing is reckless and it’s cruel. Many hares die when they are captured, transported, and held captive before meets. Some endure stress-induced heart attacks or other organ damage, or they collapse and die of sheer exhaustion while desperately fleeing from the dogs.
"This blood sport is at odds with the warmth and goodwill that people around the world know and love Ireland for. The practice is currently banned because of lockdown restrictions, and you can help ensure that it’s not allowed to resume. It’s time that Ireland consigned hare coursing to the history books, where it belongs.”
Previous attempts to change the law in Ireland have failed.
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