The Department of Social Protection has removed the listing of a JobBridge internship for the position of ‘First Whipper In’ with the Kilmacthomas-based Waterford Hunt Foxhounds from its website.
Over 2,500 people had signed an online petition calling for the removal of the internship from the website, following an initial statement from the Department that there were a ‘range of occupations that some people may find objectionable for one reason or another’.
The position first appeared on the Department of Social Protection’s Job Bridge website earlier this month, noting that the intern would ‘gain practical experience in all aspects of venery, hound management, horse management, country preservation and preparation and veterinary care’.
‘On completion the intern will have attained skills in whipping in and will be positioned well to take up a position in hunt service as a whipper in and continue their training to take up the role of a professional huntsman’, the ad continued.
The €52.50 per week position would involve being an assistant to the huntsman, keeping the fox hounds organised and focused.
The Irish Council Against Bloodsports (ICABS) launched an online petition last week over the JobBridge posting, asking people to contact the Department of Social Protection and ask them to remove the post.
Over 2,500 people had signed it by the time the internship was removed. “Many citizens will be astounded and appalled that their hard earned tax euros are going to fund this horrific animal cruelty, which involves hounding a fox for hours across countryside”, the ICABS wrote on its website.
“By approving the Waterford Foxhounds for the scheme, Social Protection are in effect condoning and promoting the barbaric bloodsport of foxhunting, and encouraging an unemployed person to become immersed in animal cruelty.
