Hunting: Losing the argument (2)

Michael Falzon tries to justify the government's decision to again allow spring hunting in Malta.

I am not an eco-fundamentalist and am very proud to be Maltese, who will do nothing to tarnish Malta's image either locally or abroad.

However, I am a nature lover and feel offended when people like Mr Falzon try to justify spring hunting for nothing else but political reasons.

Mr Falzon and the like are forgetting that the small number of votes which they are trying to save are lost twice or three times over from floating voters and Nationalist party supporters who are not hunters but have nature at heart.

It is a shame that birds, especially those of prey, coming from distant lands such as the Scandinavian countries end up being killed and left to rot. It is even more shameful that intelligent people like Mr Falzon support this carnage and try to find all the imaginable excuses so that a few people may continue practicing their hobby in spring.

It is not the people whom he labels as "eco-fundamentalists", or others who love to see birds flying rather than stuffed, that are "attacking a main pillar of our economy, tourism..." Indeed, people who support hunting are deterring tourists from visiting our country. Tourists who visit are determined never to return. The lovely memories of lead pellets and shot gun sounds are typical Maltese souvenirs.