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Hare coursing is a blood sport involving the hunting of hares with dogs (usually Lurchers who have been bred for the purpose). The primary purpose is to kill the hare.

As with all hunting in England it was restricted to nobles, with grey hound and various pure bread dogs being used, the ownership of which was restricted. The peasantry developed various cross breeds under the generic term 'Lurcher'.

Hare coursing has lost popularity with the majority of hunters, who see it only in it's bastardized for as the Waterloo Cup but 'Dog men' were to be found in most areas. As with hunting of foxes they participants took the opportunity to engage in various discussion of mutual benefit.

However the legitimacy of what the dog men got up to late at night under full moons was under question, as was the legitimacy of the business they discussed. A large amount of rural burglary was put down to the coursers.

A sanitised competitive form involves releasing two dogs after a hare. Under National Coursing Club rules, the dogs are awarded points on the number of times they cause the hare to change direction. No points are awarded for the killing of a hare. On average, 9 out of every 10 hares coursed escapes unharmed. The two dogs are released at the same time by the "slipper".

The practice was banned in England and Wales on February 18, 2005, by the Hunting Act 2004.

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