I refer to the letter, ‘Big game hunters’ (The Sunday Times of Malta, October 5), by Gordon Haines.

Haines informs us that a man in Scotland was fined £500 (€634) for shooting a protected eagle in the Scottish Highlands.

I would like to inform him that the last person convicted for shooting a protected bird in Malta, a stork in this case, was fined €5,000 and given a suspended six-month jail term which is being appealed by the police for jail time.

Perhaps he should note that illegalities in Malta are treated far more severely than a simple £500 fine. As a matter of fact, first time offenders are fined €5,000 and/or given a one-year jail sentence plus the revocation of the shooting licence.

The penalty is automatically doubled for any second time offender that obviously would be committing such crime without a licence.

Haines might wish to propose this penalty regime in Scotland considering, according to what birders promulgate, Scotland is notorious for the poisoning and persecution of birds of prey.

As for shooting birds, whether big or small, he is lucky enough to live in a country where birds are shot in numerous numbers and they feed far more mouths than in Malta.

A simple visit to the butcher is evidence of the amount and variety of birds on the Scottish menu.

Perhaps if he should come up with a recipe for clay pigeons, all the thrills in shooting birds might be replaced.