Hare coursing

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with Greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent. It is a competitive sport, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a number of variations in its rules around the world. Informal coursing can be a true form of hunting. It is often conducted to kill game or vermin, mainly for food, and occasionally as a form of gambling.
Coursing is a long established and almost universal hunting technique, practiced historically with Greyhounds, other sighthound breeds, or with lurchers which are cross bred sighthounds, and working breeds. The sport grew in popularity in the UK and Europe during the 19th century, but has since experienced a decline due in part to the introduction of Greyhound racing and betting.
In recent decades some controversy has developed around hare coursing in the UK and USA, with some viewing it as a cruel bloodsport and others seeing it as a traditional activity that assists in the conservation of hares and tests the ability of sighthounds. Since 2002, hare coursing has been banned in Great Britain but continues elsewhere in the world as a regulated and judged, competitive sport, especially in the Republic of Ireland and Spain, as well as in Russia and the Western United States. Elsewhere, in Eurasia for example, coursing continues as a classic form of hunting.
Whether for sporting or hunting purposes, hare coursing was in the UK and Europe historically restricted to landowners and the nobility, who used sighthounds, the ownership of which was at certain historic times prohibited among the lower social classes The oldest documented description of hare coursing is the work Kynegetikos (Greek), otherwise known as Cynegeticus (Latin), which was written by Arrian circa 180 AD. This work, known from its first complete English translation as On Coursing 1831, by William Dansey, was considered by its original author as a necessary addition to the classic work of the same name Cynegeticus (On Hunting), scent hunting, by Xenophon. Arrian felt compelled to describe the sight hunt and sighthounds because the Ancient Greeks only knew the scent hunt. It is from Arrian that the most famous quote on the sporting fairness of coursing originates "... true huntsmen do not take out their hounds to catch the creature, but for a trial of speed and a race, and they are satisfied if the hare manages to find something that will rescue her".
The competitive version of hare coursing was given definitive form in the UK when the first complete set of English rules was drawn up in the reign of Elizabeth I by Thomas Duke of Norfolk, providing for a pursuit of no more than two hounds, a headstart termed "Law" to be given to the hare for a fair run, and for the manner of awarding points on "Speed", "Go-bye", "Turn", "Wrench", "Kill" & "Trip", to judge the dogs' performance. The first modern coursing club was established at Swaffham in 1776, and the National Coursing Club was founded to regulate the sport in 1858.During the 1800s, coursing crossed the class divide, and reached its peak of popularity, with more than 150 coursing clubs in Britain, some attracting up to 80,000 people.By the late 19th century, hare coursing had become a predominantly working class sport.
Coursing declined during the 20th century, notably due to the development of urban Greyhound racing in the 1920s, and there were less than 30 coursing clubs in the UK by 2000.