The coalition of 15 bodies which have expressed themselves against spring hunting said the hunters’ federation had put forward only feeble and unfounded arguments for their case for hunting in spring.

The federation had accused the coalition of being inaccurate, of lying and of being full of misconceptions, but it had not pointed out where this was so. The federation should prove that spring hunting was not harmful.

The coalition, made up of Moviment Graffitti, Island Sanctuary, Abandoned Animals Association, World Animal Conscience, Animal Rights Malta, Animal Rights Group, Gaia Foundation, Alternattiva Demokratika, Friends of the Earth, Break on Through, Ananda Marga, St. Francis Foundation for Animals, SOS Animal Malta, Yelp for Help and SPCA, said that by persisting in allowing spring hunting, the Maltese government was irresponsibly placing Malta and its citizens at risk of incurring hefty fines by the European Union.

Spring hunting also adversely affected tourism, particularly eco-tourism, which Malta was trying to promote. As for the federation’s claim that the conditions for a special derogation for spring hunting can be met by Malta, the coalition said the EU did not allow spring hunting anywhere.