15/09/2025
I am not going to vote for Heather Humphreys because of her support for cruel hare coursing - Read John Fitzgerald’s letter in the Irish Daily Mail.
Humphreys controversy spotlights animal cruelty
Irish Mail on Sunday, 14 September 2025
Much has been made of the fact presidential candidate Heather Humphreys may have intervened in an animal cruelty case.
Whatever her reason for making any representation on behalf of a constituent, I welcome the media's interest in what I believe is the first instance of an animal welfare-related incident being cited so prominently in a presidential election campaign.
Animal welfare and the distressing subject of animal cruelty deserve to be taken seriously, but are all too often relegated to the bottom of the list of political priorities.
While the case cited in the Heather Humphreys controversy is an important one, I would be more concerned as a voter with her support for hare coursing, especially in the summer of 2016 when Maureen O'Sullivan TD moved a Bill to ban this barbaric, archaic practice.
Minister Humphreys, as she was then, stood up in the Dáil to defend coursing as a perfectly acceptable and wholesome rural pastime, with not a mention of the hare's pitiable plight...the setting of dogs on it in a latter-day tin-pot coliseum spectacle.
I wasn't going to vote for Ms. Humphreys in any case because of her support for hare coursing. and I certainly won't be giving even a number 12 to any other candidate, regardless of their credentials, qualifications, or political experience, who is pro-blood sports.
They can spin their position on animal welfare any way they like, but this ought to be a red line for anyone who rejects the concept of animal cruelty posing as acceptable entertainment.
John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co. Kilkenny
SEE ALSO
POLITICAL FOCUS: Presidential candidate Heather Humphreys (Fine Gael)
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2025/08/21/political-focus-possible-presidential-candidate-heather-humphreys-fine-gael/
Heather Humphreys ‘passed on threat’ to Department of Agriculture officials
https://banbloodsports.wordpress.com/2020/08/13/minister-heather-humphreys-passed-on-threat-to-department-of-agriculture-officials/
Claims that Heather Humphreys intervened to prevent conviction of farmer accused of animal cruelty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS5Jj2D2zmY
"Can I ask you about a role you played in an animal cruelty case involving a Monaghan farmer?"
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dz73-rd9NQQ
