Hunters are human

In his reply to my letter "Humans and hunters" (The Sunday Times, October 22) Mr Maurice Mizzi claims to have "an international and local knowledge of the subject" and goes on to say: "I do not like writing about a subject about which I know very little". Unfortunately his letter proves otherwise.

I base my knowledge on the subject on over 40 years of hunting. Apart from regularly hunting locally, I have hunted on several occasions in South Africa, Argentina, England, Scotland and Egypt. I also regularly research development on the subject, study, observe and record migration and bird behaviour, so I can honestly say my knowledge is based on first-hand experience.

Mr Mizzi's writing, on the other hand, is based on what he reads in the press and on his own biased opinion even admitting that he considers the sport as a "nuisance to others". Living in prime hunting territory at Bidnija he states that he is awakened at 5 a.m. by hunters' shots. Having witnessed his vociferous early morning complaints lodged from his bedroom balcony, may I suggest he invests in a good pair of ear plugs to rid himself of his problem.

Surely this would be more effective than trying to stop hunting, as he suggests. Malta might be a small place to live in, we practically step on each other's toes to get by, but unless we are prepared to be tolerant towards others, especially where such petty things are concerned, emigrating to a larger country is the only other option.

Mr Mizzi seems unaware that local hunters, for a number of years, have to sit for a mandatory proficiency test prior to being granted a shooting license. He also seems ignorant of the fact that other EU countries allow hunting in spring. Hunters in the UK hunt woodpigeon, crows and other corvids all year round and other EU countries allow other forms of shooting in spring.

Hunting in Malta is being allowed by the EU through our government's implementation of an annually renewable derogation. The Nationalist government promised all hunters in writing that spring hunting was there to stay knowing full well that this derogation is applicable to Malta since this is based on sustainability of the species being taken and the number of birds shot is indeed insignificant and of no harm to the worldwide total.

I can assure Mr Mizzi that the total number of quail and turtle dove being taken every spring is equivalent or probably less than the number of pheasants being released on the shoot his friend frequents in France.

Mr Mizzi is also gullible enough to believe the contents of letters published in the local press against shooting from people posing as annoyed tourists. Ironically, we often read such letters from persons residing in the UK, a country where shooting is very popular as well as a much advertised industry attracting thousands of foreign hunters.

The people who write these letters are obviously anti-hunting and probably form part of the anti-blood sports lunatics capable of poisoning turkeys on supermarket shelves to prove their point. This sort of people are indeed a danger to society. The sole purpose of such letters is a systematic strategy by the anti-hunting lobby to put pressure on the authorities and to influence public opinion.

This abusive attitude also applies to the local antis, who over the years have managed to infiltrate strategic government posts and the media and are using these means to try eradicating shooting. It is this element of society that is to blame for the bad name being given to Malta and not the few irresponsible hunters he so rightly refers to as "idiots".

What Mr Mizzi refers to as the "one step forwards and one step backwards" attitude taken by the authorities again shows his lack of knowledge on the subject. This so-called attitude is temporarily being adopted by the authorities since the nonsensical legal notice 79/06 issued last March is being contested by the Hunters Federation and therefore cannot be applied until a final decision is taken by the competent authorities.

The police are performing their duties admirably, their results in apprehending the law-breaking hunters speak for themselves. Yet recently BirdLife saw it fit to criticise this fact. The recent statement by the police condemning this goes to prove the treachery used by these people.

I am glad Mr Mizzi agrees with me that car fumes are more harmful than lead pellets. My suggestion that he should stop importing cars and import bicycles instead was taken literally by Mr Mizzi.

The point I was trying to make was that in his article, he only mentioned hunters' pellets as being the source of increased cancer cases in Malta and suggested that hunting be stopped, and yet, admitting that car fumes are far worse, he thought better than to mention this.

I only suggested he imports bicycles so that he too could play his part to stop a main source of cancer in Malta, And yet for obvious reasons in his last letter he states that since cars are a necessity we have to accept this! Surely this does not free him of his guilt; on the contrary, it makes him one of the main culprits.

Mr Mizzi would rather see hunting stop stating as his reasons "Malta could easily do without hunting (and how!)" and "I regard hunting as a nuisance rather than a sport" and yet he states that he sympathises with the few law-abiding hunters. It's hard to comprehend the logic in his argument. What Mr Mizzi might not be aware of is that the majority of hunters are law-abiding "humans" and, as he rightly said, "I should not write about a subject about which I know very little".