Hunting in the UK (3)

Mr Martin Pisani needs to study the complex laws on hunting in England, and he will find that even if he held the appropriate licence, wild geese and duck can only be shot below the high-water mark of ordinary spring tides from September 1 to February 20, elsewhere September 1 to January 31, shooting is largely restricted on Sundays and Christmas Day. You cannot go into the countryside with a gun and shoot at game and birds.

I don't agree with shooting birds here in England, but at least you will find a variety of birds in any garden and many people doing what they can by putting up bird boxes and feeding trays to help the common and endangered species.

I have visited your island and have seen sparrows and pigeons in the built up areas, but it was very difficult to spot other species in the countryside, that is, apart from the poor finches being tied up by their legs to stakes in the ground and others being kept in tiny cages around the fields, which I understand is in an attempt to entice other birds to the area where a 'trapper' or 'hunter' lies in wait for them. I was appalled by this practice, as are many other visitors to your island.

If you want Malta to continue to attract visitors then this cruelty and mass slaughter of birds should be stopped. I have friends who refuse to visit Malta because of this annual bloodshed.