A campaign to end hare coursing in Northern Ireland was begun today by the League Against Cruel Sports.
League chief executive Mr Douglas Batchelor said not only was the practice cruel, but there was now a severe shortage of hares in Northern Ireland.
"There can be no justification whatsoever for this practice. How can you engage in something manifestly cruel just for public enjoyment?" he said. "These animals are suffering for no good reason at all."
In the coming months, the league plans to lobby politicians and petition against the practice to have it outlawed as part of a review of the Wildlife (NI) Order that is being carried out by the North's environment minister, Ms Angela Smith.
The league said a recent poll carried out in the North showed there was public support across the population for an end to coursing.
Carried out by Millward Brown Ulster for the league, it found 84 per cent of people in the North regarded hare coursing as cruel. In addition, 73 per cent said it was immoral and 74 per cent said it should not be allowed.
Mr Batchelor said their campaign built on the growing support in Northern Ireland to put an end to a "sport" that many people saw as a "disgusting abuse of one of Ireland's best loved native species".
He said the league would seek to repeat its success of its earlier Save Our Stags campaign, which saw carted deer hunting declared illegal in the North.
PA