THOUGHTS ON THE KILLING OF A GIRAFFE
THOUGHTS ON THE KILLING OF A GIRAFFE
Letter from the Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports
Dear Editor,
There has been a huge outcry against the killing of a giraffe at Copenhagen zoo and the feeding of its carcass to lions while people looked on.
I share the revulsion as I cannot see any justification for the act. If inbreeding was an issue the animal could have been sterilised.
But forgive my cynical reaction when a caller to an Irish radio programme here said this wouldn’t happen in Ireland.
In fact the Danes overall treat animals far better than we do. They don’t, for example, allow the obscenity of live hare coursing where animals are set up as live bait to be terrorised by salivating dogs. Marius the giraffe, though I wish the poor animal was still alive, at lest died instantly and without pain. Hares are snatched from the verdant Irish countryside, held in unnatural captivity, and then forced to run from greyhounds in the confines of a wire-enclosed field.
They can be mauled, pinned down, or tossed about like rag dolls.
The public was free to witness or film the feeding of Marius to the lions. If you try to film an Irish coursing event you’ll soon find yourself being circled by the guardians of this “sport” and promptly ejected from the venue. *
There is no justification for hare coursing apart from the need some people feel to inflict pain and terror on a dumb animal. Coursing fans do occasionally exhibit signs of inbreeding and while I wouldn’t for a moment suggest that they be fed to the lions, monkeys or any other creatures, I do think Ireland should be brought into line with all the countries, including Denmark, that have banned this cruel and cowardly blood sport.
Thanking you,
John Fitzgerald
(Campaign for the Abolition Of Cruel Sports)
(* Here is the footage (just uploaded to YouTube) of Irish Coursing Club President Brian Divilly denying two women the right to film a recent coursing event that the ICC claims has “nothing to hide.”)