HC Deb 02 May 1973 vol 855 cc1252-5

3.32 p.m.

Mr. David Stoddart (Swindon)

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make hare coursing matches illegal. According to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilkeston (Mr. Raymond Fletcher), whose researches are always thorough, hare coursing was introduced into Britain by the Phoenicians some 2,500 years ago. This was apparently just one of their bloodthirsty habits copied by our ancestors, and over the years we have managed to get rid of most of these practices. However, the disgusting and horrible practice of coursing hares remains with us in spite of repeated attempts to abolish it. Even when circumstances have been most propitious, Bills to abolish live hare coursing have been accident-prone.

As far back as 1926 such a Bill, which had survived Second Reading and all other stages, went down on Third Reading. More recently a Bill introduced in 1967 under the Ten-Minute procedure by my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Walton (Mr. Heffer), and given time for Second Reading by the then Government, was inadvertently talked out on Second Reading. In 1970, the Labour Government, determined to end the barbarous practice of hare coursing, introduced a Bill of their own, but this fell due to the intervention of the General Election.

During this Parliament my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (Mr. William Price) introduced in the 1971–72 Session a Bill to make hare coursing matches illegal and he obtained a Second Reading debate on 4th February 1972. His zeal took him to a hare coursing match to see what was going on. I am sorry to say that he nearly suffered the same fate as some of the hares since some of the atavistic supporters of this so-called sport set upon him and nearly pulled him apart. His Bill, too, was talked out amidst uproar.

The most recent attempt to end this blood sport was made in another place on 2nd May 1972 when Lady Bacon introduced a Bill to make hare coursing matches illegal. During the debate quaint ideas were expressed by opponents on the subject of pain and suffering and in the final analysis the blood sport lobby again won the day by defeating the Bill by 115 votes to 71.

However, in spite of these disappointing set backs, those of us in this House who are opposed to this vile practice are determined to keep the issue before the public and to continue to fight to get the so-called sport abolished. We will not be silenced and we will not cease our efforts until victory has been achieved. That is why I am asking for leave to introduce the Bill today. It has overwhelming support outside this House, if not inside it, although many hon. Members have approached me asking to be associated with the Bill. Because of the limitation of numbers, not all who have approached me have been able to be accommodated as sponsors.

There is insufficient time to give a detailed description of what hare coursing entails, but, simply put, there are two large greyhounds matched against each other chasing a very small hare. The chances are that one in every two or three hares will be caught and killed, some of them in a most horrible and excruciatingly painful way. Even supporters of the sport do not claim there is any pest control element and obviously the blood lust is paramount in their minds. Animal organisations have collected much detailed information about the sport and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which unlike the League Against Cruel Sports is not entirely against blood sports, has sent inspectors to coursing matches and has made its reports available.

There are many of them, and to read them is a sickening experience. I have time to quote from only two. The first deals with the fate of the hare. It is the most recent report, dated 11th February 1972. It reads: Of the 16 hares killed one of them took approximately two minutes to die and featured in a tug of war between two dogs. That is not a sport, it is torture of entirely innocent creatures in order to satisfy the blood lust of certain kinds of human beings.

The other report from which I want to quote concerns the effect on the dogs. The quotation comes from the report of the RSPCA Inspector No. 102 who was at Northampton on 3rd December 1969. He reported: The surface area coursed over was terrible —the land in the district is very stoney—many dogs—injured—cut paws, broken toes, dislocated toes. So the sport involves cruelty not only to hares but to man's best friend as well.

There are those who would have us believe that animals do not feel pain in the same way as human beings—that the scream of the hare as it is chased and perhaps pulled between two dogs is nothing to do with the pain and terror. I do not believe it. Nor do most animal-loving Britons, who feel only horror and disgust at this appalling blood sport which is still with us. All too often the supporters of hare coursing and other vile blood sports are loudest in their condemnation of violence in human society. I do not believe that the two can be divorced. Violence breeds violence and disregard for animal suffering merely blunts reactions to violence towards human beings. We want an end to violence and we must abhor it in all its forms. I hope the House will make a start today by permitting the introduction of my Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. David Stoddart, Mr. Eric S. Heffer, Mr. William Price, Mr. Rafton Pounder, Mr. Kevin McNamara, Miss Janet Fookes, Mr. J. D. Concannon, Mr. John Pardoe, Mr. Gerald Kaufman, Mr. Kenneth Lomas, Mr. Wilfred Proudfoot, Mr. Joseph Ashton.