Huge discrepency in Hunting hound numbers needs explaining?

national | animal rights | press release

Wednesday July 07, 2010 12:25

by Bernie Wright - Association of Hunt Saboteurs

berniew at esatclear dot ie

PO Box 4734. d 1

0872651720

sab dispute HAI Gavin Duffys claim of 60,000 hounds with Irish hunts.

The Secret lives and deaths of 60,000 Irish hunt dogs?

The Irish Hunters are so paranoid regarding the inspections related to the upcoming Dog Breeding Bill ,that we in the AOHS have decided to try and count the numbers of hounds that Hunts have and that are relevant to this legislation, these dogs would currently be residing in Irish hunt kennels.

Having read the quote from Chairman of the HAI Gavin Duffy that ‘’60,000 hounds’’ resided here. He quoted this figure at a recent Navan HAI protest meeting a few months ago. We decided to gather the facts printed in the hunts own publications to verify this figure.

Hunting hound hanged.

Having read the quote from Chairman of the HAI Gavin Duffy that ‘’60,000 hounds’’ resided here. He quoted this figure at a recent Navan HAI protest meeting a few months ago. We decided to gather the facts printed in the hunts own publications to verify this figure.
See quote on http://www.farmersjournal.ie/2007/1208/farmmanagement/h...shtml

AOHS spokesperson says

’‘Having checked the hunts own publicised records in the irish Field directory and compiled these figures as to numbers of hounds in Ireland we had A SURPRISING RESULT! We had a shortfall of over 54,000 hounds and we are really interested to know is
how many hunt hounds are here in Ireland and if the number of 60,000 is correct?’’

Approximate Amount of hounds in packs as per Irish Field Directory.(couples}118 packs listed.[We estimate 214 packs]
Foxhounds: 1428
Harriers: 886
Beagles: 299
Bloodhounds: 35
Staghounds: 50
Minkhounds not known/3 Packs. [possibly 60 dogs]

2698 Total hound couples in IMHA AFFILIATED packs (couples} equals 5396 dogs.
[We do realise that there are also unregistered/unaffiliated packs also but this cannot account for such a big discrepancy?]

So Questions that need answering

• If approximately 5-6,000 hounds are in the hunting packs, where are the other hounds?

• What are the others used for [55,000 dogs?] if not in packs?

• Are the surplus kept as spare HUNTING dogs?

• How many are breeding females.?

‘’We challenge the hunters to let us know how the figure of 60,000 dogs was calculated.
It’s a hell of a lot of dogs to be inspected OR Not as the case may be?’

We invite the media to solve this mystery please!

ALSO HOW MANY DOGS ARE KILLED BY HUNTS.

We spoke to a Veterinary Surgeon in County Meath some years ago who was engaged by two local hunts. Casually he told us that 30 dogs in each of those hunts were killed each year.
When asked why and if these dogs were injured or ill he said no, but some might have uterus problems from breeding but that was all.
So if 30 dogs on average per hunt are killed ,that figure multiplied by the total of affiliated and non-affilliated hunts, stated above by the HAI as 250 hunt clubs equals 7500 dogs killed and disposed of annually.

Hounds are killed when they cannot do their job. No figures are available .In reality hounds are tools of a cruel trade- tools to be callously disposed of as soon as they are worn out.by the time the hounds reach about five years they are considered to be too old and are taken to a Vet or shot by the hunters themselves. This is to ensure the best hounds are left to provide entertainment for those who hunt.
The hunt say hounds cannot be domesticated or rehomed, despite many being homed by rescues.
They say the kindest thing is to kill them! Kindest or most convenient?