George Palmer’s letter that appeared on May 18 raises some points that need clarification.
... hunting takes place in all European Union member states and hunting illegalities occur everywhere- David Borg Cardona, secretary, St Hubert’s Hunters, San Pawl tat-Tarġa
What he calls a tiny minority of “bird killers” are the Maltese hunters, a minority of about 14,000 people, apart from their families and relatives. Irrespective of their number, minorities have their rights too and a democratic government will uphold such rights.
In this regard, the Maltese hunters’ rights regarding spring hunting were endorsed by the European Court of Justice on September 10, 2009. No government in its right mind will ever consider holding a referendum concerning hunting, which the European Union considers to be a “right” enjoyed by over seven million EU citizens. Therefore, any call to “put the issue to a fair referendum” is just hot air. Mr Palmer and like-minded people should come to terms with that fact. Then, they can start thinking of tackling the issue from a different angle.
May we suggest one starting point. BirdLife Malta have refused to acknowledge the ECJ ruling on spring hunting and prefer to waste their energy and resources on an attempt to ban it. We doubt that BLM really want to eliminate hunting illegalities. Otherwise, they would be out in the countryside both before and after the official open season. BLM are always hammering on rampant illegalities. They have more than 3,000 members but do nothing to tackle these law breakers seen by Mr Palmer “roaming the valley without any fear or shame”. BLM are not really bothered about a few poachers.
Contrary to Mr Palmer’s assessment of “pure journalism”, the RTL Channel broadcast to the German public instigated by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) was nothing but pure unadulterated sensationalism. Almost all of it was a rehash of incidents, such as the alleged bird carcasses find at Miżieb that happened years ago. These incidents had received publicity at the time but RTL featured them as recent events. The only novelty was the discovery of a “massive trapping site”, which could just as easily be identified from a helicopter.
CABS use drones only because they need the publicity that brings the funds. They are really not bothered about Mr Palmer’s poachers. Otherwise, they would come to Malta before and after the open season. David Camilleri, from Qala, is now the permanent CABS member resident on Gozo and Mr Palmer might wish to consult him on why “there was no action” when he telephoned the police.
May we point out to Mr Palmer that the alleged “damage to Malta’s reputation” does not derive from hunting or even hunting illegalities, for the simple reason that hunting takes place in all European Union member states and hunting illegalities occur everywhere. Malta is being singled out by the birding organisations because (1) they cannot accept Malta’s hard-won right to limited and sustainable spring hunting, (2) they find the authorities so very accommodating that they can fly spy planes without permits and (3) they find a receptive public that believes all the nonsense dished out to it by a few extremists.
Although wildlife atrocities are more numerous and more damaging than what happens locally, no EU state suffers from such bad publicity as Malta. The fault lies squarely on the abolitionists and their foreign stooges.
Finally, we ask Mr Palmer to note that the statement “the Qala-Nadur-Xagħra area has long been famous for its hunting” is a statement of fact and not a moral judgement. Therefore, Mr Palmer’s comparison with human sacrifice in the Coliseum of Rome is entirely misplaced. Our final suggestion to the Gozo resident is to invest in double glazing!