Kaccaturi San Ubertu, a hunters' association, has criticised a visit to Malta by Italian MEP Andrea Zanoni to visit the CABS hunting-monitoring operation in Malta.

It said this was the latest charade by the Committee Against Bird Slaughter CABS in its bid to ban hunting in Malta.

"Andrea Zanoni is a member of the CABS Italian partners the Lega Abolizione Caccia (League for the Abolition of Hunting), the EFAH (European Federation against Hunting), and the LAC (Anti-Hunting League). His presence in Malta on the invitation of CABS clearly indicates their objective of lobbying the European Parliament to reach their goal of Malta becoming a hunting free zone."

The association said that BirdLife Malta and CABS, backed by other bird protection societies such as the RSPB have been working incessantly towards this aim by intentionally over-exposing hunting illegalities in Malta.

"The few isolated cases they publicize are indeed indicative of the overall observance of hunting laws by Malta’s 10,000 hunters. Therefore, they attempt to discredit legal hunting and the admirable work of our enforcement forces by accusing the government of apathy in enforcement, and by claiming that the few hunting illegalities observed are just 'the tip of the iceberg'."

The association said hunting regulations were being rigorously observed by the vast majority of hunters.

"We also maintain that the abolitionists need policing as much as does the small rogue hunting element. Apart from providing real-time action against any crimes allegedly witnessed by bird protectionists, the presence of the police with Bird Guards will also provide official verification of their often dubious allegations which only serve to tarnish Malta, its hunters, Government and the police themselves."

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