I refer to the report of the shooting of five racing pigeons belonging to Kevin Gatt on Saturday (October 23).

Racing pigeon shooting has been going on for years- Peter Zammit, Birkirkara

The deplorable shooting of racing pigeons has been going on for years. It is useless for the Federation of Pigeon Racing Clubs to simply “complain” that racing pigeons were returning injured after being shot or not returning at all. It is not much use either for Mr Gatt to post photos of his shot pigeons on the federation’s Facebook page, asking everyone to “be responsible and file a report if you see anyone shoot at pigeons”.

It is the members of the federation that need to take action to get rid of this scourge. And the only way to do so is to get organised to catch the culprits.

The federation members know the day, the time and the location where they will release pigeons. From their experience of pigeon behaviour, wind conditions and so on, they also know the route the birds are likely to take to their loft. A few federation members in the right places, armed with photographic equipment and liaising with the ALE police, should start producing some practical results.

Otherwise, same old story!