His quarry was the stag, fox, gazelle, and hare. Also blessed with a keen nose, the breed has been used to track game including the wild boar. In 1858 the National Coursing Club was formed and drew up a code of coursing rules. A similar organization controls coursing in the U.S. S till popular, coursing pits the speed and skill of one dog against another in the pursuit of the hare. It is the chase, not the kill that is important.
Most hares escape.
Even so, there is strong public feeling that the sport should be outlawed. Possibly more humane and vastly more popular is Greyhound racing which began in England in 1876 and has spread to Australia and the U.S. where it flourishes. W hile the breed's strong natural instinct to run and hunt is undeniable, it is said that as a house pet the Greyhound is superb. T he modern greyhound is strikingly similar in appearance to an ancient breed of sighthounds that goes back to the Egyptians and Celts. A 4,000 BC funerary vase found in the area of modern Iran was decorated with images of dogs looking much like greyhounds.