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Message: <blockquote data-quote="John Cantelo" data-source="post: 1302068" data-attributes="member: 2844">I think Gallina may be right in suggesting that the majority of the Maltese people oppose hunting.  However, whether through lack of commitment, the wrangles of politicians or intimidation they have allowed the hunting lobby to have undue influence.  It seems to me that, with the honourable exception of Maltese bird activists, the Maltese have neglected to stop the abuse.  No, this has been left to 'foriegn' visitors - the Maltese should be ashamed rather than resentful of this fact.  The Maltese people have repeatedly through their history proved themselves to be a brave and resilient nation - isn't it time that greater numbers of the Maltese people joined BirdLife Malta and got rid of these abuses?  Imprisonment and a heavy fine may well be the notional punishment, but how often has it actually been imposed?  I'd be delighted, but surprised, if it was very often.  With regard to the UK case quoted it is, perhaps, significant that the offender was 'shopped' by other gamekeepers.  Remember too that these birds would have been poisoned, trapped or shot on large private estates in a very covert manner.  In Malta they seem to blast protected birds out of the sky in full public view - which tells us both that the illegal hunters act with impunity and that many in the population turn a blind eye to the practise.  If the hunting lobby in Malta is as anti-illegal hunting as it claims then how often have they 'shopped' this 'rogue element' to the authorities?  Lets remember that we're talking of a place with a population of less than half a million (= that of Wiltshire) crammed an area of only 316 sq km (i.e. smaller than many metropolitian areas in the UK).  It's hard to imagine that the hunting community don't know exactly who these 'illegal' people are; if in doubt some of them only have to look in the mirror.  Remember to how fiercely they fought any reasonable controls or legislation and how much they clearly resented them?  (And how long, exactly, have cheap reliable shotguns been available on Malta for this 'traditional hunting' to develop?)  It's not the hunters who've been repeatedly threatened, attacked and abused.  It's not Birdlife Malta or the RSPB that brings the island into disrepute but hunters be they 'legal' or 'illegal'.  To think anything else is simply fooling yourself, JohnJohn</blockquote>

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