Soon most of us will be voting in the spring hunting referendum. Those who will be voting ‘No’ will be voting to stop hunters killing birds which are about to hatch and produce their offspring.
Furthermore, spring is the best time of the year in which we and our valuable tourists like to walk in the countryside. During the hunting season, it is impossible to take a stroll without being startled by the noise of a barrage of shots.
Nobody in his right mind would like to walk in the countryside while hunters are shooting frenetically, resulting in hundreds of ear-splitting shots nearby. It definitely is not safe.
Nowhere in the world are 11,000 hunters shooting within just 300 square kilometres, Malta’s area.
I find that few Maltese worry about their health as otherwise they would be concerned about the millions of lead pellets annually fired by 59,000 shotguns registered with the police.
These poisonous pellets are continually dropping into the soil, are polluting our vegetables and filtering down to our water table.
Is it so surprising that, as was reported, one in every four Maltese is dying of cancer?
This referendum will not affect any other activities such as the shooting of fireworks during festa time. Fireworks give pleasure to us Maltese and to our tourists. Hunting does not. It gives pleasure only to the chosen few who like to see lifeless birds dropping from the sky
No wonder that our tourists are shocked by the absence of interesting birds chirping away in the trees. Voting ‘No’ will mean that Maltese and tourists will not be woken up ruthlessly by trigger-happy hunters as early as four in the morning just because birds were trying to find a place where to roost.
Birds visiting our islands are being decimated. Hunters are supposed to list down the number of birds that they kill in the Carnet de Chasse. What a joke. Who believes their numbers?
Voting ‘No’ will mean that we and our children will be able to enjoy the singing of birds and to interact with them.
The referendum will stop hunting for only two or three weeks during spring. Hunters still will carry on disturbing the peace in our countryside during five months in autumn and winter.
However, at least with a ‘No’ vote, we and our children will be able to enjoy spring in peace.