Mario Vella in his letter BirdLife Malta And 2010 Spring Hunting (October 9) replicated false information stated by Mark Mifsud Bonnici, secretary of Kaċċaturi San Ubertu (September 24). BirdLife Malta has already corrected the misinformation given in the first letter by Mr Mifsud Bonnici, through a letter signed by BirdLife Malta's campaign coordinator Geoffrey Saliba but since the same libellous claims were published again, we are obliged to set the record straight.

Both Mr Vella and Mr Mifsud Bonnici claim that I had stated in 2003 that BirdLife "expected the government to at least allow hunting in spring of turtle dove and quail". This is not true.

What both hunters are actually referring to is not a BirdLife Malta statement but a press release issued by the FKNK in March 2008, where the federation twisted BirdLife's statement to their advantage.

BirdLife's statement in 2003 had read: "If protected birds are being shot in autumn when hunting is allowed, how can we reasonably foresee that the law will be observed in spring when hunters and trappers are expected to target 'only' two species, the turtle dove and quail? ... BirdLife Malta has made it clear from the outset that it opposes the granting of any concessions [derogations] that are against the spirit and provisions of the EU Birds Directive."

It was a letter BirdLife Malta had sent to the Prime Minister, Eddie Fenech Adami, in September 2003 drawing attention to the illegal killing of protected species in both autumn and spring that year. A month later, BirdLife Malta had held a press conference in which a statement was issued based on the letter sent to the Prime Minister.

In March 2008 FKNK published a brief summary of BirdLife's press release while trying to pass the statement off as the original version.

The FKNK version of the press release and what Mr Bonnici and Mr Vella claimed in their letters published in this paper stated that: "the Society [BirdLife] expects the government at least to implement what it negotiated namely: 1. to allow hunting in spring of turtle dove and quail only".

Nowhere in the BirdLife Malta press conference or in the letter sent to Dr Fenech Adami did BirdLife say that which the hunting lobby is shamelessly claiming.

The hunting lobby chose to paraphrase and edit BirdLife Malta's statement to suit its purposes, thereby continuing in its crusade to make unfounded allegations about BirdLife. This misrepresentation of material facts shows in no uncertain terms that the hunting lobby will stoop to the lowest of levels in its attempt to win sympathy.

The Maltese government did not have an agreement with the EU to allow spring hunting of turtle dove and quail - but Malta had expressed its intention to apply a derogation. The only agreement reached between the EU and the government was the phasing out of trapping of seven finch species, which expired at the end of 2008.

BirdLife Malta also repeatedly warned the government that Malta could end up at the European Court of Justice for allowing spring hunting and that it could lose the case. BirdLife's was proven right when Malta was found guilty by the ECJ for allowing spring hunting between 2004 and 2007.

It is striking to see how far the hunting lobby can go to maintain the unsustainable practice of spring hunting. They not only ignore the ECJ ruling but also resort to issuing fabricated statements. It is evident that legitimate hunters in this country need people to represent them who have the ability to understand what they read and stick to the facts rather than hiding behind smokescreens.