Enough already!

Sixty eagles and a number of ospreys were misguided enough to fly over the Maltese islands on Wednesday. The inevitable happened - our conservationist friends let rip and a massacre ensued. Shots rang out all over the Maltese islands, starting from Gozo and continuing in Rabat, Girgenti, Siġġiewi and Buskett. Over half the majestic, protected birds were killed.

Clearly this was not a case of one crazed loon breaking the law. This is a situation where we have a considerable number of crazed loons with guns running around the Maltese islands breaking the law. I'm not sure about you, but the thought of men in camouflage who simply cannot control themselves when it comes to shooting down defenceless creatures is one that fills me with dismay. Clearly these are dangerous people who have no respect for the law and no control over their base impulses.

The government has reacted, calling what has happened "barbaric". Apparently new laws are in the offing, increasing fines for killing protected birds and also introducing stiffer penalties such as prison terms. This is all well and good but frankly it will not get us anywhere as long as the culture of omerta that clearly exists in the hunting community remains in place.

The only way that we are going to stop such atrocities is to introduce a system whereby hunting seasons are cancelled as soon as such abuse comes to light. If hunters realise that the actions of their less law-abiding conservationist buddies could lead to the entire hunting season being cancelled, they will undoubtedly change their attitude and become much less inclined to turn a blind eye when protected birds are shot out of the sky.

It is clear that the only way forward is to create a culture of self-policing in the hunting community. Our government simply does not have the resources to police the countryside properly, and I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that for every bird that is recovered by Birdlife or every kill that is recorded on camera, there are dozens of kills that go unrecorded. The ones we know about are merely the tip of the iceberg.

How many flamingos and eagles and ospreys and other protected birds is it going to take for the authorities to realise that the current system is simply not working? Increasing fines and penalties is all well and good - but it does not count for much if we only catch one perpetrator in a blue moon. If the rogue hunters believe that the odds are stacked in their favour (and let's face it, they are!) then they will simply continue shooting everything that flies.

So the government should immediately declare the hunting season closed and state clearly that this is due to the abuse that happened this week. It should also make it clear that the same policy will stay in place in future seasons.

Rest assured that if Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Roderick Galdes were to take such action, whistleblowers would come out of the woodwork to report the poachers to KSU and FKNK. This would lead to the criminals losing their hunting licence and the incidence of abuse in future seasons decreasing dramatically.

It is clear that abuse is so rampant that it will take drastic measures to achieve real change. The status quo is no longer acceptable and the government should take note that for every lover of the "traditional socio-cultural practice of hunting and live-capturing of wild birds" there are a dozen or more Maltese who are absolutely sickened by it all. Roderick Galdes please take action - make this abuse stop.

Claudine Cassar is the Managing Director of Alert Communications Ltd