Tuesday 20 March 2012

Badger baiting and the unspeakables who practice it


"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
~Immanuel Kant



Not always true, given that Hitler for instance, doted on his German Shepherd Blondi. But true insofar as someone who routinely indulges in animal cruelty has got to be a nasty piece of work.

It has been said that many serial murderers started their gory careers by pulling the legs off spiders, before moving up the hierarchy and graduating to humans. If someone is happy to shoot a bird out of the sky for no good reason, is it only the law that prevents them taking pot-shots at you or me?

Then there are blood “sports”. Well-heeled types who don their jodhpurs and red coats to chase a fox across the countryside until it dies of exhaustion or is ripped apart by hounds. Sometimes it escapes, of course, but it can’t be a pleasant experience all the same.  Oscar Wilde aptly described it as the "unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable".

There is coursing too, in which a hare is chased around a field by greyhounds for the amusement of Neanderthal onlookers. Badger baiting is another one. It is difficult to imagine the mentality of the odious being who would take pleasure in such an activity.

The footage above originates from north of the border in County Down where, it seems, “baiting” –  far worse than the term describes – is quite common.  It isn’t confined to that locality,  however, as the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported, as recently as February, that badger baiting was on the rise here too.

Sure, someone who is an animal lover isn’t automatically a good person; but someone who would do the above to another living creature is undoubtedly a very bad one.


Would you want to be at their mercy under any circumstance?

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12 comments:

John said...

Shocking video, Badger baing was made illegal in Uk and Ireland 170 years ago.Seems some people have learned nothing.
I see that dead badgers are sometimes dumped by the roadside to be mistaken for roadkill, by those invovled in the "Sport". I was coming back from Wicklow, recently and noticed about 4 dead badgers(or what was left of them) on the side of the road. There is no pint in having laws if they are not enforced.

The Gombeen Man said...

It is, indeed, shocking John. Your observations would seem to back up the ISPCA's statement on the matter - it is widespread here as well.

Dakota said...

"Would you want to be at their mercy under any circumstance?"

NO most definitely NO. It's hard to imagine these scum are allowed to roam free in the countryside. They are obviously capable of God only knows what.

These individuals GM, are the very scum of the ditch. They are perverse sadistic yobs. They thrive on ritualistic savagery. Thick Irish muckers and undoubtedly sociopaths.

You can bet your bottom dollar they would do the same to a defenseless human as quick. The lowest form of life, aided and abetted by some, allegedly, upstanding individuals in society, it has to be said. Oh, and they also seem to thrive in the vacum which is Ireland's, nauseatingly ambivalent, attutide to Animal Welfare. Scratch the surface and Ireland is nothing but a Third World Nation.

The Gombeen Man said...

Yes, Dakota.

My old dear used to say that people who were cruel to animals would do the same to humans if they could. I think she was right.

Ireland has a very bad record for animal experimentation too, many of which are done for trivial "research" purposes, and many without an anesthetic. Then there are the other outrages perpetrated on horses that featured in the blog in the past.

Dakota said...

Yes GM, Ireland's record on Animal Welfare is a telling tale, of the real state of affairs. Away from all the hype and glossy advertising fluff, sadistic ritualistic cruelty is the name of the game. Obviously there are also such networks of sadists in the UK but the fact that this perversion is so interwoven with the culture in Ireland is also profoundly staggering.

Or nearer the point, it should be clear to all right thinking individuals, that it should not be acceptable to allow these perverts to persecute defenseless Animals. But in reality they can do whatever the hell they want.

It also has to be said that if the Animal could put up a fight, these perverted sadistic scum would run a mile, again says a lot about Ireland.

Harald said...

Thanks for the footage, GM. And reading the comments here gives a bit of hope.
I live here for 4 years now, love the people, love the country. But the one thing that pisses me off on a daily basis is the way animals are treated on this Island.

Dakota, very well said: "It also has to be said that if the Animal could put up a fight, these perverted sadistic scum would run a mile, again says a lot about Ireland."
I absolutely agree.

Bernd said...

Killing badgers ... numbered amongst "wholesome pursuits" by Cavan rural parents and youths alike. As I found out, when one of the dogs used in this "sport" strayed into our yard early morning. And unless you want to be the pariah of the area you better keep quiet ...

I could go on. Won't. Animals and animal welfare have caused too much friction with neighbours already.

Mind you - not with the owners of livestock or a nearby piggery, or with bona fide hunters. With the owners of "pets" (ab)used to satisfy the blood lust of the moron on two legs.

Dakota said...

"Numbered amongst "wholesome pursuits" by Cavan rural parents and youths alike. Bernd, any "parent" that would blood their child in ritualistic sadism needs to be taken away for their own sake and that of civilisation. They should be neutered.

Bernd said...

@ Dakota ... yeah, but that is (unfortunately) illegal as well. And you tend to notice parenting skills only when neutering is a past option ... ;)

Ella said...

@ Bernd & Dakota - tis a strange land we have here. To own a dog you need a licence but to give birth, well I guess you need to be fertile but that's really about the only requirement to being a parent.

Anonymous said...

It should be clarified that such pursuits are as common among urban dwellers as rural folk, perhaps more so.

The farming relatives have told of their surprise at the number of times they have been asked for access to hunt their land, by people from towns. Most farmers in their locality would have no interest in killing animals for sport. The do kill when an issue arises with lambs being taken or vermin problems.

It can hardly come as any surprise that there are significant numbers of people in this country who get enjoyment seeing an animal dying in terror. It is just another expression of some sick, sly, trait that permeates the Irish psyche.

This is a country where doctors sawed through womens pelvis, so as to satisfy their own religious beliefs.

The Gombeen Man said...

There is no doubt that cruelty isn't confined to rural types. The city slickers are in on it too, of course.

I read in the Blanch Gazette a year or two back of a puppy being set alight and thrown into someones back garden - as you do - and another dog trapped deliberately in a burning car (both Finglas).

Then there's the permanent epidemic of horse cruelty and neglect to be seen on any green area surrounding many housing estates. Urban cowboys is right.

Sadly, it all seems to be a general problem here, with ever-plentiful generations of new scumbags ready to pop out and carry on our fine real-life Irish traditions.