Animal welfare tops the bill in Stormont

MLAs have voiced their support for an end to the blood sport by voting firmly in favour of an amendment to the Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill (WANE).

The WANE Bill, currently going through Stormont, offers a number of opportunities to policy makers to improve animal welfare, most notably with provisions to ban snaring and upgrade the protection status of the Irish hare to full permanent protection. MLAs will decide on the future of snaring at the next stage of the Bill in the autumn.

Over the last few years the Coleraine League Against Cruel Sports group - which recently held an information stand in the Diamond Centre - campaigned to ensure that local public opposition to hare coursing was known. After recent success they have turned their attention to raising awareness of the dangers of snaring in the province to both domestic and wild animals.

Northern Ireland Campaigner Mary Friel said: “An end to hare coursing is long overdue and we are delighted politicians have utilised the provisions in the new Bill to bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK on this issue.

“The League hopes that Stormont will lead the way in the UK to ban the use of snares an outdated form of predator control which has the potential to inflict great suffering to any animal unfortunate enough to encounter this primitive device”.