Marvellous Book About Animal Welfare Campaigner

[Peter51]

I've been involved in various projects concerning the protection of animals, opposing cruelty etc and I'd like to really recommend a book I've read on the subject. It's called Bad Hare Days, by John Fitzgerald. He tells the incredible story of his lifelong battle to to seek protection for the persecuted hares of Ireland. In that country, hares (they resemble large rabbits) are used in a cruel game called Hare Coursing, in which the animals are forced to run for their lives from hyped-up greyhounds. Many are mauled to death amid the ear-splitting cheering and laughter of the crowds who enjoy this activity. This is deemed "sport" by a small but powerful minority in Ireland.

Fitzgerald decided at an early age to join a campaign against hare coursing...he quickly found that he was up against powerful people, including Government politicians who supported the cruelty. He was severely bullied in his workplace, beaten up in the streets by coursing fans, and constantly harrassed by members of the Irish police force who were themselves members of the hare coursing organisation. He eventually won partial protection for the hares, but coursing continues to be legal in Ireland.

Bad Hare Days is actually a memoir, but it's cetainly the most exciting book of its type I've read to date, more like a thriller as a colleague of mined opined. Anyone involved in a campaign focusing on animal welfare, in any part of the world, or fighting cruelty to animals, will identify to some degree with the author's experience. I'm not sure where you can get the book in Thailand but it's published by Olympia Publishers of London and I obtained it over the Internet. A fantastic read, it will restore your faith in humanity and the triumph of the spirit over the forces of tyranny in this world.