"THE MORALITY OF COURSING."
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] SIR, —It is really very painful to men who, like myself, attach great importance to the opinions of the Spectator, to find you condemning coursing "as the most doubtful of all forms of sport." Many men, too poor to hunt or shoot, and having no liking for fishing, find healthy relaxation in coursing, who never for one moment suspected themselves of the heartless indifference or cruelty you charge them with. Of course, you will reply that the selfishness of men is such as to obscure or warp their judgment when their own interests or tastes are involved ; but I think you do us some injustice when you say, in effect, that we do not give the hare fair play. You observe, "We have not the slightest objection [to coursing], provided that man does not undertake to assist Providence ; that whenever the hare beats the dog, as she almost invariably does, man does not help the dog to recover the trace, and that the dogs are not taught by man to hunt together, and that man absolutely abstains from any share in the pursuit."
If the sport were carried out under these conditions, it would, you add, be "most unobjectionable." Now, Sir, this is exactly what is done. It frequently happens that the hare beats the greyhounds, and whenever this occurs she is protected, in other words, is not coursed again during that day if she can be recognized. A weak or lamed hare, or leveret, is never coursed if the slipper under- stands his work ; and the greyhounds are always held back until puss gets a start of from sixty to a hundred yards. The death of the hare is merely an incident in, not the object of, the sport, which is really to ascertain the racing powers of the greyhounds, and very interesting and successful " meetings " (trials) take place at which very few hares are killed. Your argument, what- ever it may be worth, tells directly against hare-hunting, but not against coursing ; the two forms of sport have not a feature in common, and none of the objections you so eloquently urge apply [Does "S. S." mean to say that the hare likes being coursed ? Our point is simply that an animal has a right of its own to be protected against needless torture, even if man is benefited by inflicting it.—En. Spectator.]
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