Irish Masters of Beagles Association

                                                         Submission

on

the Proposed Draft

Animal Health and Welfare Bill

                            9^th July 2008
  

Opening Observation

Like the others bodies which may wish to make a submission the IMBA wishes to state that it cannot make a proper submission on this very important Draft Bill because it does not have a copy of it. We have seen a consultation document containing the titles of proposed parts. This is very unsatisfactory and we wish to state our serious reservations about this situation.

 Beagling

 The Irish Masters of Beagles Association (IMBA) is the National controlling body for the sport of Beagling on the island of Ireland.

 This sport goes back in Ireland for over 2,000 years and is the oldest organised sport of any kind on this Island. It is the sport of breeding a beagle hound which will find the scent of an hare in the hare’s natural environment and follow that scent through all the evasive tactics which the hare uses, puzzling out checks and weakening scents etc. It is not a sport that sets out with the intention of taking or killing the hare. The IMBA has 21 member hunts on the Island –18 in the Republic and 3 in N.Ireland.

Legal Responsibilities

While the IMBA is a self-regulating organisation it is subject to at least three (3) Depts of State in this jurisdiction, viz. the Dept of Agriculture & Food, Environment Heritage & Local Govt. as well as the Dept. of Arts, Sport and Tourism, with which we have always maintained excellent relations. In addition we are subject to the similar Ministries in Northern Ireland. All of our hunts conform to the laws of the jurisdiction within which they operate and make a major contribution to the economic and social life of their hunt areas,

 Objectives

 The objectives of the IMBA are: 

a.         To foster and promote Beagling in Ireland

b.         To encourage the breeding of the pure bred hunting beagle in Ireland.

Health and Welfare of animals

In the Beagling world we are very caring of all of the animals under our control and abhor cruelty or abuse of any fashion to animals be they our own hounds or our quarry the Irish Hare. Our sport demands that our Hounds be kept in top condition of fitness and health. We are doing all we can to preserve and improve habitat of our wildlife and are conscious of its welfare as well. To this end we adopt the highest standards of management of all aspects of the health and welfare of our animals in our kennels as well as on the hunting field. It is the desire and intention of this Association and its member hunts that everything possible be done to ensure the health and welfare of our animals. We therefore support the efforts of the State in ensuring that these objectives would be pursued in the areas under its control. However we are of the opinion that Welfare of Domesticated or Wild animals should not be confused with Animal ‘Rights’ as the latter is not part of the Programme for Government. 

Definition of an Animal

It would appear that this Draft Bill would include Wild Animals. It is our understanding that in other countries where all animals are included in the same piece of

legislation it has given rise to serious problems in both the interpretation of the Acts concerned by the Courts and also in their implementation with a consequence that some countries are excluding Wild Animals from the

remit of such legislation. Therefore, to avoid such problems in this country it would appear to be

desirable to exclude Wild Animals and it is the view of the IMBA that separate categories should

be created for Domesticated and Wild Animals.

 The Hunting Association of Ireland (HAI) has put forward in its submission that the following

Definition general descriptions be used:

A Domesticated Animal i.e. one which is normally domesticated and under the control of man for commercial or recreational/sporting purposes

A Wild Animal i.e. one which is born and lives in the wild in normal circumstances and is not under the control of man.

And we agree with this and as well with the HAI proposal that

The Wildlife Acts of 1976 and 2000 continue to deal with the welfare of Wild Animals and not the proposed legislation as it is generally agreed that Wild Animals are well catered by these Acts.

Duty of care

Within the Draft Bill we understand that it is intended to introduce the concept of a Duty of care towards animals. While we accept that a Duty of Care is due to Domesticated Animals which are under the control of Man it is not considered reasonable by us to expect that the same Duty of Care could be extended to Wild Animals which are NOT so under Man’s control.

Again we accept that a Level of Responsibility does exist towards Wild Animals but this Level of Responsibility will necessarily vary with the type of Wild Animal and how it interfaces with Man.

Hounds

Standards of Health & Welfare

With regard to the maintenance of hounds and their general care the IMBA has adopted and works under the HAI’s Guidelines For Hunt Kennels In Ireland which deal comprehensively with the various aspects of hound welfare and management.

It has been accepted by the Dept of the Environment as recently as this year, in the drafting of the Regulations on Dog Breeding Establishments, that the HAI Guidelines in this area were as good as, if not superior to, those which they themselves envisaged producing and we are assured by this Dept that it is happy to exempt the hunts belonging to the HAI from these Regulations which are due to be published soon.

 Hares

 Hares are the quarry which all Beagle Packs hunt. 

The Irish hare (Lepus timidus hibernicus) is an endemic sub-species of the mountain hare (L. timidus Linnaeus) and is the only native lagomorph in Ireland. The Irish hare has been legally protected since 1930 in the Republic of Ireland, initially under the Game Preservation Act (1930), more recently by the Wildlife Act (1976) and Wildlife (Amendment) Act (2000).

 The IMBA has conducted surveys within its member hunts over many years which have shown that the hare population was strong in all the areas that they hunted. This was supported by the recent report on the survey commissioned by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Dept of the Environment, Heritage & Local Govt i.e. the “Status of hares in Ireland - Hare Survey of Ireland 2006/07” This report stated, inter alia, that

“The estimated abundance of hares in the Republic of Ireland taken together with the results of the Northern Ireland hare survey in 2007 (Reid, et al. 2007b), suggest that there were 649,000 hares (95% CI 432,000-1,198,000) in Ireland as a whole during early 2007.

In common with hare populations elsewhere the Irish hare has the capacity for dramatic short-term population change and it is plausible that the population could have more than doubled between 2006 and 2007.”

In view of its current status under the Wildlife Acts, cited above, it is recommended that it be not included under this Draft Bill.

The IMBA has been aware of the fluctuations in the Hare population for a very long time and as well of the effect of changing Farming methods on the Habitat of the Hare. All our hunts encourage the farming community to engage in farming practices which will retain the hare populations especially retaining cover e.g. ditches. In this regard the REPS Scheme should be of benefit.

As the hare is a totally over-ground animal it is a rare occurrence that a hare is killed as a result of being hunted by hounds due to its speed compared to the hound and the fact that scent diminishes almost to zero as it is being hunted thereby making it very difficult for a pack of hounds to stay on it. When the hare is killed by the hounds it is dispatched instantly by them.

 The Following recommendations are made by the IMBA: -

 1.                  Definition of an animal

(i)         The term Animal be dealt with in two ways i.e.

A Domesticated Animal i.e. one which is normally domesticated and under the control of man for commercial or recreational/sporting purposes

A Wild Animal i.e. one which is born and lives in the wild in normal circumstances and is not under the control of man.

(ii)                The Wildlife Acts of 1976 and 2000 continue to deal with the welfare of Wild Animals and not the proposed legislation as it is generally agreed that Wild Animals are well catered by these Acts.

2.              Duty of Care

a.      A Duty of Care only apply to Domesticated Animals which are under the control of Man.

b.      a Level of Responsibility be established to apply to Wild Animals. This level of responsibility can vary with the nature of the animal and the circumstances in which it interfaces with Man.

3.      Health and welfare of Hounds

The HAI Guidelines on Kennel Management for Hounds should be accepted and this area left to the Regulations on the Management of Dog Breeding Establishments made under the Control of Dogs Act.

4.      Making of Regulations

        The procedure for the vetting of such Regulations in the first instance and their revision needs to be included in the Bill.

 5.            Advisory Council

The IMBA supports the HAI’s recommendation that an ADVISORY COUNCIL should be established within the Act to advise the Minister, in the first instance, on the proper drafting of the Bill. This body would consist of members from The Dept of Ag, the Main Farming Bodies, the Vets body, the HAI and FACE, the Horse Racing Board, the Turf Club, The Equestrian Sports Body.

 The Council should be a Statutory Body which the Minister should have to consult before he makes any changes to the Act once passed, or Drafts an Order or produces or adopts a Code of Practice. In addition the Council should vet any regulation which any Local Authority may wish to publish under the Act before the Minister consents to or authorizes such a local regulation to become a Statutory Instrument.

 6.            Additional Consultation with HAI

The IMBA also agrees that, in accordance with the Consultation Document, the HAI should be one of the bodies which will be chosen to make a further submission or an Oral Presentation to the Dept. after the submissions have been received and considered by your Service so that it can address pertinent matters.