In his letter Shooting The Messenger (March 18), Joe Aquilina St John clearly shows that apart from not being able to hit what he shoots at, he is also so heavily biased and ignorant of the matter that as usual he opens his arguments up for ridicule. Complimenting Mark Mifsud Bonnici on his "most acerbic" letter proves that the truth is indeed bitter for some to accept.
His "expert" knowledge of British pheasant shooting spurs him to ridicule Mr Mifsud Bonnici who stated: "Unlike England, Malta is unable to offer 500 pheasant days to paying guests". In the UK, pheasant shooting is offered to paying guests according to the number of pheasants guests are guaranteed to catch on the day. Mr Mifsud Bonnici was referring to the "slaughter" such days in the UK offer to the paying hunters as opposed to the dozen or so game birds caught in a whole five-month season by a Maltese hunter. Indeed such shooting in the UK is only referred to as slaughter to accommodate the anti-hunting sentiments, as believe you me, there could be nothing more enjoyable than partaking in such days. However, if Brian Simmons, the letter writer to whom Mr Mifsud Bonnici was replying, were against "slaughter" and not after tarnishing the Maltese hunter, since this was Mr Mifsud Bonnici's argument, then I too believe his concern is to be directed to what happens in his own country.
Comparing the stabbings in the UK to some murders in Malta committed with the use of "hunting shotguns", Mr Aqulina St John is obviously implying that anyone possessing a shotgun could be a possible murderer. Has he ever counted the number of knives in his kitchen cupboard? Murders are more commonly committed with knives than with guns so owning knives makes him nothing short of a possibility. Mr Mifsud Bonnici's letter stated a series of correct statements, the comparison between Maltese and British laws, land ownership signs and, above all, foreign interference by people that can only speculate. For Mr Aqulina St John or anyone to defend the statements of a British "tourist" whose visit to Malta results in a warning for all to keep their heads down in the Maltese countryside, when his assertion derives from utter nonsense, only goes to prove how pathetic their stand against hunters truly is.
Mr Aqulina St John has a thing in common to Mr Simmons that makes them one of a kind. They both wish good luck to BirdLife Malta. Their ignorance of matters is synonymous to this kind as is their abolitionist trait. They do not seek to remedy the ills but to abolish hunting. They consider that by writing utter nonsense they are achieving some form of good. If indeed the support for BirdLife Malta is to be judged on this sort of criticism and ideals, it comes as no surprise that BirdLife Malta's credibility has hit rock bottom.