Captive deer hunted in Northern Ireland

This video from (southern) Ireland says about itself:

The Irish Council Against Blood Sports very much welcomes the passing of legislation in the Dail on 29 June 2010 to outlaw the hounding of deer with a pack of dogs. The successful Wildlife Amendment Bill 2010 bans the Ward Union deerhunt which for 150 years has been terrorising tame red deer.

…

About carted deer hunting: In carted deer hunting, captive-bred deer were released and chased to exhaustion by a pack of hounds. Although the aim was not to kill the deer, the creatures suffered a gruelling cross-country chase which left them exhausted, injured and at risk of dying from heart failure. Deer have also died while being recaptured.

From Wildlife Extra:

Captive deer being hunted in Northern Ireland

Is deer ‘carting’ still happening in Northern Ireland

March 2013. A recent BBC report has highlighted the practice of ‘carting’ deer. Carting refers to the practice of hunting deer, usually on horseback, that have been kept in captivity for that purpose.

An undercover BBC film crew filmed a deer being kept in a trailer, and then in a shed, for several days, before being released minutes before the hunt appeared outside the shed.

Bovine TB

Ulster Society Prevention Cruelty to Animals (USPCA) have pointed out that this has happened in an area where authorities are currently testing badgers for tb in an effort to prevent tb in cows, yet this deer was kept on a farm with cows.

USPCA said “The law in Northern Ireland must change and consign ‘hunting with dogs’ to the waste bin of history bringing us into line with the rest of the UK. Until that objective is achieved any evidence of ‘carted’ stag hunting should be reported to PSNI as a suspected criminal offence.”

Related articles

• Man held over Northern Ireland paramilitary killings (itv.com)
• Pa. officials confirm wasting disease in wild deer (pottsmerc.com)
• 2 plead guilty in connection with local deer poaching case (wqad.com)
• 2,000 horses go missing every year in Northern Ireland (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Region ‘slipping behind rest of UK’ (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
• Stormont Executive blocks free speech law (newsletter.co.uk)