Tarnished reputation

Joe Xuereb

Mar 13th 2010, 00:08

@ Ian Galea. What has James Bulger and Putirjal got to do with the massacre of birds? I am surprised you forgot to mention that men (and women of course) choose to spend their time and money drinking alcohol in pubs whereas Maltese folk prefer healthier pursuits like blastering feathered creatures out of the skies and sip kinnie from quaint bottles on street corners to round off the idyll.

Johnny Xerri

Mar 11th 2010, 18:28

@ Anton Borg,

Tarnished reputation!
Of course if people like you persist in writing stupid imaginative letters. Green woodpeckers for everyones information feed on ANTS. Check out the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_woodpecker

Any one with some knowledge of birds would know that peanuts cannot be eaten by birds that have long elongated slender beaks, since these are designed by nature for them to probe the ground in search of insects. A peanut would be to big to fit in the beak and for the bird to roll it down the slender beak. On the contrary an insect would the caught in the beak just like food between chinese chop sticks. Being soft it could easily be rolled using the long tounges that such birds have.

Of course if Anton wants to persist that his woodpecker is eating 'imaginary' peanuts, who am I to prove him wrong with more articles and facts? Besides I don't have the time, I am off to meet my imaginary friends so that we could feed each other some peanuts and lies.

Joseph lia

Mar 11th 2010, 17:39

This has become beyond farcical!
I suggest that the TOM editor properly vets these type of childish and harmful letters.
Hunting and trapping exist legally in other countries, whilst unfortunately so does poaching, the local police force are doing a very good job to curb illegalities. The few poaching incidents in Malta are being blown (purposefully) out of proportion so as to tarnish our islands image and as a pre-set agenda from the non-locals that chair the local birding organization.

J.Cutajar

Mar 11th 2010, 17:22

Face the truth & facts hunters, you have a national & worldwide bad reputation & your prospects for future pleasurable bird depletion never looked so bleak.
Imagine all the drooling & praise if a foreigner wrote in your favor, but in this day & age any support for your lost cause seems inexistent & extinction is imminent .
The world needs to move on & can’t be held back by some ancestral ritual or tradition.
HFA could you please be a bit more specific how Malta benefits from shooting birds and why it’s in the interest of our country when presented with so many letters like this together with the general bad feeling towards hunters & trappers?
It can’t possibly be all Birdlife’s doing.

Antoine Grima

Mar 11th 2010, 17:17

That's strange Mr Borg.My inlaws are English , and my father in law is a very keen bird watcher , and he loves coming to Malta exspecially in September to see the birds of prey .Proof that not all are one track minded like you and your english friends are . We hunt for 5 months of the year over here , and in England hunting is permitted all year round . Still we are the ones being targetted by people like yourself .Is this why you left Malta Mr Borg ? Because here everything is wrong and in England everything is perfect ?

M.Cardona

Mar 11th 2010, 17:04

Cont:-
@ Mr Anton Borg

"In the meantime, when my British friends and aquaintances of mine comment about Malta", in REALITY rather than "virtually".. their complaints have NOTHING TO DO WITH HUNTING!

Get real Mr Borg and keep feeding peanuts to the woodpecker! WHATEVER....

MR BORG THE GREEN WOODPECKER IS AN INSECTIVORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Woodpecker

MARK MIFSUD BONNICI

Mar 11th 2010, 17:01

Mr. Borg

It's amazing how damaging propaganda could be. Far from trying to hide any form of bird crime, I can honestly say that the related illegalities that occur in Malta are no more then those in other countries. All shameful acts, I might add.

If for example you refer to the UK, then maybe checking the RSPB bird crime report for the year 2008 might help discover what might become of the woodpecker waiting for you son's peanuts!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/birdcrime_tcm9-226049.pdf

If on the other hand you consider Malta to be any worse then the UK. then blame it on your being gullible to whoever is trying to depict the problem in that manner.

Residing in the UK should make you aware of the possibility of shooting 365 days a year at far more species of wild birds then shot here in Malta. The only difference being that whilst we get to shoot a dozen the UK shooters get hundreds of thousands.

So before directing your bias towards your country, do inform yourself as to what goes on outside the comfort of your armchair.

Failing that, you are making a fool of yourself

M.Cardona

Mar 11th 2010, 16:58

@ Mr Anton Borg

Enlisting foreign NGO support and funds is a tit for tat issue. RSPB collected hundreds of thousands of pounds with their wild claims (We were even accused of killing birds which were never recorded locally) over Malta's hunting scenario. Local NGO's expect support in return and hence the articles you claim.

Yes, keep on dreaming about the articles Mr Attard, and their claim that all the birds "come via Malta".

In the meantime, irrespective of the ulterior motives of these articles ( as earlier highlighted) and the blatant fictions they portray, harming Malta's image has become a free for all, Maltese and non! But that's nothing new, since this tactic is now decades old.

One cannot but conclude that your letter is nothing but a part of an orchestrated propaganda. Have you ever considered petitioning against the hundreds of thousands of wild birds bagged in Gloucestershire alone?

Trust me I will be more than glad to expand this latter issue to your heart's desire!

Cont:-

Henry Fenech Azzopardi

Mar 11th 2010, 16:25

Dear Anton Borg

your remark that ORNIS recommended the opening of a Spring season for reasons known best to ourselves is totally unfair and unfounded.

A full debate on the subject took 4 hours of deliberation with proposals and counter proposals coming from FKNK BIRDLIFE and MEPA. Furthermore, we also had a European Court of Justice Judgement to follow and could not in any way be disregarded.

Ultimately the final decision was put to the vote and the outcome is now public.

I therefore cannot agree with your assumptions and your remarks are unethical bearing in mind that a whole sitting was dedicated to this one important subject. The fact that the majority that delivered the decision is not within your liking is superfluous.

We democratically delivered what the majority of the members thought is in the interest of our country.

Finally it is the Government that decides what to do. I hope that you do not go against the government if he decides to open Spring Hunting, because afterall this has been long promised to the hunters and is now overdue.

That is why we call ourselves a democratic country and part of Europe.

Andrew Gatt

Mar 11th 2010, 13:57

Dear Mr Anton Borg, it would have been more appropriate had you referred to a parrot in your letter.

After all, you have said nothing new but have simply parroted the same repetitive, Birdlife-inspired nauseating rubbish. And we wonder about the sources of the articles in the UK newspapers. Any guesses as to where the hatred and bias is coming from?

Why don't you write to Buckingham Palace instead and "demand" that the Royal family stop game shooting? Or to the UK Government expressing outrage at the all-time-high scale of bird and wildlife crime in the UK? Perhaps you may want to start a petition against the shooting of over 22 MILLION birds in the UK?

And, Mr Borg, may I also suggest you take ANYTHING Birdlife Malta says or does with a sack or two of salt.

Sylvana Zarb Darmanin

Mar 11th 2010, 13:23

Anton Borg, may I point out that the ariticles in the UK newpapers gave an unjust picture of the situation in Malta. You might care to realise that these articles quoted BirdLife Malta sources alone. It has become the practice of BLM to exaggerate the situation in a bid to tarnish Malta's Image. As a Maltese, you are expected to be amongst the first to find out the truth and then defend your country.

Sir, "this Neanderthal activity" you refer to is practised legally the world over, including the UK. Hunting holidays are offered in your country of residence, where Maltese hunters' catch for a week there is similar to their catch for 10 years or more in Malta. Furthermore, birds which in Malta are protected, may be shot in the UK. It might also interest you to learn that in the UK, a hunter was murdered and an anti-hunting individual is being questioned for his murder. THESE ARE THE SHAMEFUL ACTS, ANTON BORG!!!

Maltese Hunters have a right to practise their pastime during Spring. Is your letter meant as a ring in BLM's chain of mud-slinging to the run-up to the Spring Hunting Season?!

Ian Galea

Mar 11th 2010, 13:09

"... had it tried this stunt in the Maltese countryside, would quite possibly have been blasted to ribbons..."

Had Jamie Bulger been lost in Putirjal he would have met someone who would have helped him find his mom instead of those two kids that bludgeoned him to death!!

To each his own I guess!!

John Borg

Mar 11th 2010, 12:46

Mr Borg, your son can feed the woodpecker because in the UK you've got woodpeckers as resident birds while in Malta the only resident birds are sparrows and that's why every morning I feed only sparrows and I notice that their number is in decline although they are neither trapped nor hunted. I have many connections with the tourist industry and you saying "virtually the only complaint they have to make is about hunting" is a very big big lie. The top complaint among tourists is our disastrous roads and hunting for sure doesn't even rank in the top 20 of the list! However I do agree with you that certain letters and articles fed to the media do us no good and even your letter doesn't help at all. But then, I don't know either what you are after.

Michael Portelli

Mar 11th 2010, 12:23

I am against hunting although I can accept that for some people it is a way of life. What I cannot understand is why Malta is always singled out. Are we saying that hunting does not exist anywhere else in Europe ? Or the World for that matter ? Is Malta often targetted because we are so small ? If people will not visit Malta because of hunting habits here then how can they live in the UK or anywhere else where I am certain hunting is also a way of life for some people ? I could go on and on but won't bother. As much as I would love there to be no hunting I am sure there are other people who would say the opposite. But picking on Malta is a joke. It would be interesting to see a list of Countries where all types of Hunting are banned. I think it would be a very blank sheet. I am not sticking up for hunters. Just for my country. Call me sad or whatever.

R. Pisani

Mar 11th 2010, 12:17

Do you go fox hunting Mr Borg?

r curmi

Mar 11th 2010, 11:45

while I agree with you about illegal hunting in malta and that its more widespread that other parties would like us to think I sure hope that your friends upon principle refuse to go to Spain, cyprus, itally and greece among other places. We could also add Iceland, norway and japan for their whale hunting.

k. francica

Mar 11th 2010, 11:45

I find Mr Borg's letter pathetic and insulting. How could anyone living in the UK, criticise the ORNIS committee for proposing limited, controlled spring hunting, when the UK permits 365 days a year hunting. As for the "Neanderthal activity" isnt Mr Borg aware that the Royal Family of the country hosting him, are keen participants in this activity. While condemning all illegalities, I feel that Birdlife Malta are doing the whole country a lot of unnecessary damage, but then again why should they care about us Maltese, BLM is run by foreigners with lucrative salaries.
I would suggest to Mr Borg, to advice his friends to petition their governments not to allow Maltese hunters to practice shooting in spring in their countries (uk) if they feel that spring hunting is unacceptable.I seriously doubt that they will put their principles ahead of an economic activity.

D.Fenech

Mar 11th 2010, 11:35

Dear Mr Borg,

are you aware that in the UK, the country where you are boasting to be living in, hunting is carried out all year round, 24 hours a day ? Why are you so surprised that Malta is to apply a single derogation to allow spring hunting for only 2 species since, as the ECJ ruling implied, this is possible since in Mlata their is no other satisfactory alternative ? Do you know that the UK applies HUNDREDS of derogations to the bird's directive each year ?

So please, get your facts right before you start making such comments !!

RJ Micallef

Mar 11th 2010, 10:58

I am also a resident of the UK and recently visited the island for a week. Despite the lovely bright days, birds were conspicuous by their absence. Growing up in Malta there was a beautiful old house with a garden full of trees at the end of our street. The trees were home for thousands of birds and I shall never forget the sight and sound of birds in full flight from a minor distraction only to return seconds later.
The house is now a block of ugly flats, the trees are gone and so are the birds. The power of the gun is matched only by the scent of money in limestone and concrete. We have managed to conserve very little and Malta is the poorer for it.

Joe Camilleri

Mar 11th 2010, 10:42

The wood pecker is not a huntable bird and does not migrate over malta. So this letter is usless from the begining.
And here we hunt what the same english hunters hunt although in a much lower scale.

"Several have refused ....... to visit the island" And BLM says that do not harm tourisim, our main economy.