Several NGOs have expressed concern about the government’s position on hunting in spring, especially after the Ornis Committee meeting on Monday 26 February. The NGOs said there was no justification for hunting in spring.

The NGOs are Moviment Graffitti, Animal Rights Malta, Friends of the Earth, World Animal Conscience, SOS Animals, The St Francis Foundation, Animal Rights

Group, the National Cats Society, and Island Sanctuary.

“It is unacceptable for the Maltese government to open the spring hunting season, when the European Union made it clear that this contravenes the regulations of the Birds Directive, and that it is in no way ready to accept such a decision. In the other countries of the European Union, bird hunting is illegal in spring. A legal exemption to this regulation is only possible if there is proof that there are too few birds in other seasons. However, the European Union has made it clear that this is not the case in Malta, and there is thus no justification for hunting in spring.”

The NGOs said the behaviour of the government in the Ornis Committee should be condemned because the government approved the proposal for spring hunting through the committee, when the decision meant that the country would be breaking the law.

The proceedings of the Ornis Committee clearly showed that the committee was not independent as it should be, but had ended up acting as a government tool.