Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Deputy Broughan that the hares must be treated humanely and I believe that they need to be monitored, as do all of these trials. In order to familiarise hares with the layout of the coursing field and the location of the escape, in advance of coursing meetings hares in the hare park, the enclosure where they are kept prior to the start of the coursing meeting, will have access to the coursing field for some time. In addition, it is normal practice for some coursing clubs to train hares in advance of coursing meetings by holding trials, which are essentially preparation runs before the hares are pursued by two dogs along the actual coursing field.

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