A ban on horse racing would be next - if hare coursing was outlawed, according to an Independent TD.
The Irish Council for Bloodsports has described coursing as 'barbaric', and has called for it to be banned.
The Coursing Club says the vast majority of hares caught last year were released back into the wild.
Kerry TD Michael Healy Rae believes banning it would lead to calls for other sports to follow suit:
"Remember that we have people in Ireland today who actually would condemn people who go to the races and horse racing, because they actually think that that's wrong. So if we go down the slippery slope of banning Hare Coursing, the next thing they would say is that 'Our race courses should close down".
