Recently I had the pleasure of going to one of the oldest feasts in Malta, the feast of St Lawrence in Vittoriosa.

Apart from the usual festive activities, there was one strange and rather cruel aspect that caught my attention. This was a couple of budgies, closed in a very confined ball, with no light, water or air, in the scorching heat of August. All this was for the sake of a few seconds of people's enjoyment to see some terrified birds explode in the air, after they are let free.

What the people miss out, is that these birds bump immediately into anything that is before them, and eventually most of them die mercilessly.

I am sure that any feast in Malta and Gozo has enough of entertainment and can do without this rather cruel event.

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