122,000 Europeans sign petition against Malta spring hunting

Mario Tabone

Mar 26th 2010, 20:22

For crying out loud !!!! Whatever next !!!
According to some of these hunters they are now not shooting these birds as a hobby. Nor are they doing it because they don't care about wildlife, or because they are selfish blood thirsty gun toting cowboys . They are doing this for food !!!!
Certain hunters who speak on behalf of others still persist that because hunting is allowed in other countries then it is ok to happen in Malta. When atrocities come to light then they blame poachers or anybody else for that matter.
Anybody who expresses their opinion against hunting is an extremist or a hunter hater.
According to them BLM is causing untold damage to these islands by highlighting this waste of life and needless eradication of protected wildlife.
Well, all they have to do is abide by the will of the decent majority and BLM would not have to publicise these atrocities. This is not about hunger and killing for food. It is about a sadistic hobby enjoyed by these few who are unwilling to change their ways for the better of all the community.

charlie mizzi from gozo qala

Mar 26th 2010, 12:03

Hi, I think if people breed the birds that they like to trap or shoot there will be more birds available. There will be no need to shoot birds.
I breed quails, poultry,doves and pheasants. If I want to ;when it is duck or quail season; there is plenty to hunt, as long as you have a licence.
Other European countries are allowed to hunt and trap birds to eat . therefore the Maltese who traditionally follow through with this cultural life form have a right to exist.
If meat in Malta is cheaper and easy to buy .then the Maltese would not need to hunt.

charlie mizzi from gozo qala

Mar 26th 2010, 11:52

Hi, I think if people breed the birds that they like to trap or shoot there will be more birds available. There will be no need to shoot birds.
I breed quails, poultry,doves and pheasants. If I want to ;when it is duck or quail season; there is plenty to hunt, as long as you have a licence.
Other European countries are allowed to hunt and trap birds to eat . therefore the Maltese who traditionally follow through with this cultural life form have a right to exist.
If meat in Malta is cheaper and easy to buy .then the Maltese would not need to hunt.

Kenneth Cassar

Mar 26th 2010, 06:58

@ R Xerri:

You can never understand what theft/murder/rape/etc is, because you have never been with thieves/murderers/rapists stealing/murdering/raping. It is easy for you to speak from behind your computer.

I hope you get my point. You can be opposed to something even though you have never experienced it, because you know of its harmful effects (to yourself or others - and by others I include non-human animals).

As for hunters/animal farmers, yes, in a way animal farms (as I already said) are worse than hunting since they involve more suffering. I think I made this point sufficiently clear.

C. Agius

Mar 25th 2010, 22:04

I am not a hunter or a trapper and they don't enjoy any special sympathy from me, but BLM are doing so much harm to Malta, and I think they really must be stopped. Mr government I repeat an earlier suggestion, do not fund them any further and please withdraw or decline your endorsement for any future EU funds they request. That is the only way this handful of "my way or the highway" get the message, since it hurts their POCKETS!

I don't like it when protected birds are shot, but "game" is hunted all over the world so what I can't understand is why they foment so much venom against Malta only? If I'm not mistaken, its only about the "gamima and summina" and the ECJ has already said they can hunt. So why all this fuss? And by the way if they really loved the birds as much as they claim, they wouldn't parade those three birds and subject them to any further stress. BLM, I used to empathise re- illegal shooting but now you are going way too far and have become extremists yourselves.

R. Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 14:52

@ Kenneth Cassar
"I don't eat meat, so I oppose any unnecessary killing." So you and other who think like you should be more angry with the farmers then with hunters. Ask your supermarkets, butchers, fisheries, etc... how many fish and meat they throw away because it is not sold on time and is then no longer fresh or no longer good to be eaten. And to the restaurants that serve huge portions and then throw the rest away (ofcouse you cannot serve it again but at least serve smaller portions to avoid waist)

I DO NOT support ILLEGAL Hunting. I only support the hunting for food - be it birds, rabbits, fish, etc... You eat what you hunt you are not a criminal you are just chosing what you want to eat, like you do in restaurants.

R. Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 14:44

@ Kenneth Cassar and Alex Ellul
You can never understand because you do not want 2 understand what hunting really is. It is easy for you 2 speak from behind your computers. Have you ever been with hunters, hunting? If yes, you do not want to understand what it means. If no, please do so and you will know what it menas. I am an EX BLM supporter, been fed all the lies and followed them in their actions against hunters not for the love of birds. But i wanted to see what it really meant to be a hunter and to see why hunters made a fuss about BLM's actions. So i went with a Hunter to her field where we sat quietly behind some rocks waiting to catch a bird that could be eaten. Hours passed and i got tired, so i went the next day and the next until she caught 1. It was then that i realised that it is not a hobby. You do not sit in front of your tv 2day to see a football match starting next week, don't you. watching football is a hobby, you do it in your free time.

Kenneth Cassar

Mar 25th 2010, 14:32

Addiction: "the state of being enslaved to a habit or practice or to something that is psychologically or physically habit-forming, to such an extent that its cessation causes severe trauma.

R Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 14:28

For all the Europeans who signed the petition, why don't you sighn petitions for your own countries? Oh! Sorry, your countries can trap birds with glue instead of selecting the ones you would like to catch you just glue them all. Wood pigeon and crows are pests in your countries so you can shoot them all year round even when they are mating and taking care of their nests, you're right there is no cruelty in doing this! And Bull Fights are just a fun way for bulls to die, it is in their nature to be drugged and killed so thousands can see them die in agony and you also pay money to see this... hmmm. Great! WELL DONE all of you, You are leading by example and that's the way it should be.

And to all those who have a doubt on the birds found dead by BLM under rocks and in bushes. YES they where frozen in their freezers beause BLM can have illegally caught birds in their property without having a permission from MEPA and without anyone taking record on the birds they own.

Alex Ellul

Mar 25th 2010, 14:27

@R Scerri: "Doctors claim that more & more hunters & trappers are bound 2 d use of anti depressants because of d closed season - some even committed suicide. Do you think this is right?"
You are really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Suppose I am depressed by gunshot blasts, blasts that commence from before dawn till late in the morning, sometimes the whole day till after sundown, suppose I get proof that these effect me psychologically and I have to be put on drugs, anti-depressants with the risk of committing suicide, would that give me the right to ask the authorities to ban hunting? All else you wrote collapses.

Kenneth Cassar

Mar 25th 2010, 14:19

@ R Xerri:

Regarding hunting not being a hobby, the way you describe it hunting seems more like an addiction than a "way of life".

Alex Ellul

Mar 25th 2010, 14:18

@C Borg: You admit of being fooled for the EU referendum. That was followed by two elections. Were you also fooled there? So you are continuously falling for scams? mmmmm. Doesn't sound nice for one's intelligence.
@R Xerri: Your (ILL)logic beggars belief. Farm animals are farmed at the farmers' expense, risks, and hard work, while you want to shoot down birds for free, birds that do not even belong to you at all. You just spend a few cents for a polluting, poisonous lead cartridge and hey presto dinner is ready. Cavemen used to knock women on their head and take them as their wives thousands of years ago. We have moved a lot since then, at least many of us have.

Kenneth Cassar

Mar 25th 2010, 14:16

@ R Xerri:

You do have a point. Actually, animals whose bodies people buy at supermarkets would have suffered more than hunted animals. Then again, I don't eat meat, so I oppose any unnecessary killing.

R Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 14:14

What about all of those sports fans - you and I pay money to see the football matches on tv or live because we have this passion for football, we do all it takes to see our favourite team playing. So will all the hunters and trappers do - they will do anything so that they can live their passion. It is not a matter of killing birds but a matter of being hunting for the food you will eat. Like fishermen catch fish and make some species go extinct - why doesn't anybody say anything to them but only to hunters?

I disagree with the illegal hunting of birds of prey so that you can make them as an ornament on your wall unit and i will report any person that i will see doing this. THEY ARE NOT HUNTERS, hunters hunt the food they will eat not to put them on their wall units.

R Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 14:03

@ j. cutajar
Do you think that eating that Strawberry was like eating the strawberry grown in the old days? does it have the same taste? i think it tastes more like water than like strawberries. But at least they don't feel the pain, unlike the animals grown in farms. 200 chickens in a small area is cruelty however and feeding them food to make them grow twice the size in a week!!

You are not vegiterian so you eat meat - but this is not cruelty right?! you have the right to eat Meats but not to kill them??! I love eating quail and turtle dove but not the ones found in supermarkets as they have no taste, am i a criminal if i hunt for my food?? Or are only male hunters the ones unter attack here? If you enjoy eating the frozen food please leave thse like me who like to eat their freshly caught birds in peace. You have the right to have an opinion but so do I and Hunters and Trappers alike.

R Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 13:28

Part 2
And then why doesn't our PM do the same? Spring Hunting & Trapping has always been a tradition & a part of our CULTURE. Claudio Baglioni sang our Maltese song "l-Ahhar Bidwi f'Wied il-Ghasel" where it mentions our spring hunting for quail & turtle dove. Doctors claim that more & more hunters & trappers are bound 2 d use of anti depressants because of d closed season - some even committed suicide. Do you think this is right?? Will you be under depression if anyone stopped your hobby?? i suppose not coz you'll find another hobby. that is why hunting is not a hobby but a part of your life. STOP BEING FOOLED BY BLM, they have no where 2 turn 2 anymore, they lied to all of US!

Malta is not in the migration route of birds. No millions pass from Malta and No millions can be caught. Hunters spend hunting season from morning till dawn waiting for birds to catch & eat, in a whole season they are lucky if they manage to catch 4. Some pass a whole season waiting without even seeing any.

R Xerri

Mar 25th 2010, 13:13

Those of you commenting that are not Vegiterians do not have the right to speak or write regarding Hunting! Please note that if you eat red meat, white meat, sea food, etc... you are killing animals so that you can fill your mouths with the juicy and succulent meat that was once a living animal.

Hunting is not a sport, hunting is not a hobby but it is a part of life that you are born with - like you cannot decide to be born with blonde hair you cannot decide to be born with the passion for hunting. After all humans have always been hunters. What about the food we feed our chickens and pigs amongst other animals, to make them grow larger and larger so that we can have more meat and ake more profit?? they end us growing more than their normal sizes in a short time instead of allowing them to grow at their natural rate, isn't this cruelty too.

Why is hunting and trapping LEGAL in most of EU countires and in Malta not?? The Spanish government stood up for his country and people to keep doing the Bull Fights because it is Spains Tradition.

C.Borg

Mar 25th 2010, 09:05

@ Mr Alex Grech,

For me PL and PN, it doesn't matter. It's only the hunting issue that matters, and I think, even when talking to my friends, that where and when the hunting issue is taken into consideration by any party, we will do what is the best for us. Unfortunately some of us where fooled with the letters sent by MIC and the PM before the referendum and thus they voted PN. But now I can assure you that will not be fooled again.

Do you think that there aren't any PL followers at BLM.!!

Kenneth Cassar

Mar 25th 2010, 08:50

Dear Sylvana Zarb Darmanin,

Elections are not just about hunting. Ask Lino Farrugia.

stephen muscat

Mar 24th 2010, 22:27

proset u keep it up ,kull ma jaghddi min fuq malta huwa taghna