[WATCH] Galdes: BirdLife ‘intimidation’ by Wild Birds regulator is ‘misinterpretation’

Galdes: BirdLife ‘intimidation’ by Wild Birds regulator is ‘misinterpretation’ • Video by Ray Attard

Parliamentary secretary for animal rights Roderick Galdes has played down claims by BirdLife that an e-mail sent by the head of the Wild Birds Regulation Sergei Golovkin was an “intimidation”.

Golovkin e-mailed BirdLife last week to warn the NGO that it was not covered by the Director of Veterinary Services’ authorisation to keep any living or dead birds or to euthanize injured birds, and that consequently, BirdLife was breaking the law when handling injured birds.

BirdLife in turn accused the WBRU of intimidating their officials in an attempt to silence the organisation from exposing the impact of illegal hunting. 

“Having read the e-mail myself, I interpreted the unit’s e-mail as a way to point out the necessary procedures that need to be followed in handling birds,” Galdes said speaking after a press conference about the launch of an animal welfare fund earlier today.

Galdes added that the procedures had been outlined in the contract that BirdLife had signed when it was given a building in Buskett to house Malta’s first centre for the rehabilitation of shot and injured birds.

He reminded that whoever handled these wild birds required special permission from the state veterinary doctors, because people should have “the necessary training to be able to do so.”

“The letter was merely pointing out these facts on the basis of the law to avoid what we saw earlier this year,” he said referring to a recent case instigated by hunting federation FKNK, when four BirdLife members were charged in court over the illegal possession of dead birds.

The case was ultimately thrown out of court in June, with a magistrate ruling that BirdLife carries out such work in the best interest of birds.  

He added that he felt it was unfair to imply that Golovkin aimed to intimidate anyone and for him to be attacked so harshly by the media when he was merely doing his job.

“Bird Life has every right to campaign and carry out its duties as it wishes, but it cannot break any protocol or regulations to do so,” Galdes said.

Referring to reforms that Golovkin had overseen in the unit, Galdes said that the unit had managed to rescue many birds that would otherwise have been lost.

“I have complete and absolute trust in Golovkin, particularly given the reforms he has overseen in hunting and trapping, both in terms of enforcement and in terms of derogations with the EU,” he said stressing that he felt it was unfair to attack someone who was doing his job so well.