During the weekend of 28/30 October, I was expecting to spend a blissful and relaxing break on the lovely Gozitan Eco-Isle, or to be more precise, in the quaint and normally peaceful village of Gharb. Unfortunately however, all my plans and expectations were totally disrupted and thwarted without respite.

The place where I was lodged enjoys magnificent, uninterrupted views of the fields and the sea below was subjected to an incessant barrage of gunfire from very early dawn till late dusk on Saturday and a repeat performance on Sunday morning and part of the afternoon. These were veritable unmolested field days for the ‘hunting community’.

To make matters even worse, especially for the unfortunate, defenceless targets, the shots fired were invariably twin consecutive volleys with the clear intent that none of the winged visitors stood an earthly chance of proceeding to their destination after a local rest, which unfortunately ended in a brutal, permanent one.

The slaughter on these two days must have been virtually limitless, quite likely running into many scores, possibly even exceeding the thousand mark.

Such an obscene and illegal state of affairs is utterly unacceptable on two counts.

Firstly, because hunting took place during most unreasonable hours (starting at 6am on Saturday and Sunday) and during a mandatory prohibition (after 1pm on Sunday), and secondly because most of the shots were fired very close to an inhabited area – within the 200m minimum specified by law. The latter was obviously so from the innumerable lead pellets hitting the faces of the outer walls of the buildings along the road flanking the shooting gallery.

It is indeed most shameful and irresponsible that both the police and the council authorities must have turned a Nelson’s eye and a deaf ear to these highly serious abuses of the law taking place in open country so close to habitable areas – especially because the shots would undoubtedly been within earshot of the police station and the local council in the village.

It is almost certain that this concentrated barrage directed at the slaughter of enjoyable birds of passage must have had a more disruptive effect on foreign tourists staying nearby − especially those unaccustomed to this high level of continuous noise pollution and the heartless and cruel destruction of birds by selfish individuals hell-bent on ending the life of creatures that should inversely have received protection and help.

No matter what the hunter community says in defence of what it blasphemously labels a hobby and a national tradition worthy of preservation, as well as the risible ridiculous assertion that restrictive laws are causing hunters mental distress and breakdowns, it is surely about time that the government and even more so for the EU to ban once and for all this horrendous practice of death and slaughter.

Law-breakers in this regard, apart from the penalty of confiscation of their gun and the vehicle used for reaching the hunting site, should be charged a hefty fine. A term of imprisonment and a permanent ban on driving should be imposed for a second default or violation of the law.

It seems utterly unbelievable, in my view, seeing a mere teenager, looking not older than 15, fully dressed in camouflage attire carrying a covered shotgun entering a house just before dusk!

Developing such a mentality of slaughter especially at a young and immature age must be mercilessly nipped in the bud via effective action.

Edwin Calleja

BALZAN