Hunt breakfast is dogs dinner.

national | animal rights | press release Saturday August 09, 2008 01:03 by Bernie Wright - Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR) berniew at esatclear dot ie PO Box 4734. Dublin.1

fox hunters get toasted!

HUNT BREAKFAST WAS A DOG”S DINNER
Fox hunters get toasted as breakfast seminar loses keynote speaker and gets infiltrated.

A seminar organised by the Hunting Association of Ireland to address the ‘vegan agenda/animal rights threat’ has been described as ‘farcical and ill-informed’ by the Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR), one of the leading animal rights groups in Ireland.

The organiser of the event Mr Gavin Duffy was left with a large dose of egg on his face when Padraig Walsh, President of the IFA, who was billed as a keynote speaker at the event, vehemently distanced himself from the agenda of the Hunting Association of Ireland.

According to an AFAR activist who infiltrated the meeting, a clearly embarrassed Duffy claimed that the IFA President had allowed himself to be intimidated by animal rights activists.
“Padraig Walsh has faced the big boys in Europe and the big boys in GATT, but he has been intimidated out of attending this meeting today” Mr. Duffy is reported to have told the meeting which was made up mostly of hunters but also included a representative of Duffy’s Circus and members of the Bernardo’s furrier family.

Bernie Wright, spokesperson for AFAR welcomed the decision by Padraig Walshe to distance himself from the hunting agenda pointing out that many farmers in this country are strongly opposed to the activities of hunters right across the country.

Ms. Wright went on to claim that the organisers of the event are completely misinformed about the nature and scale of animal rights activism in the Republic of Ireland. Among the groups identified as a threat by the event organisers were the Vegetarian Society of Ireland and the ISPCA.

Pointing to the ‘Declaration of Rights’ for animals which the ISPCA claims it supports on its website, Lt.Colonel DJ Foster claimed that the long-established charitable organisation was, contrary to popular perception, an animal rights organisation linked to several international animal rights networks and an organisation that needed to be kept under scrutiny.

“If they are running scared from the likes of the ISPCA and the Vegetarian Society of Ireland, then they have their facts a bit jumbled.”,-most of lt Col Foster’s blurb spoke of a Peta connection with Irish activists. With the exception of one group clearly connected with Peta the rest of us would condemn Peta as being welfare orientated and would have absolutely no connection with them. AFAR would consider a lot of their campaigning sexist and welfarist in nature.

Pointing out that more people were protesting outside the venue than were attending the seminar, Ms. Wright continued “ The Hunting Association of Ireland and Ward Union’s Gavin Duffy organised this event to garner support and publicity for their brutal pastime of hunting and instead it turned into a badly attended PR disaster.”

For more information contact ……
Bernie Wright, Press officer. AFAR
087 2651720..