I promised myself not to comment and respect every person's opinion but considering all the idiocies and hypocrisy on the spring hunting issue I felt I should contribute my opinion. Since the young age of 11 I've spent the months of April and May on our lands in Gozo with my father and a number of Maltese and Gozitan friends enjoying the hunting season. Nowadays the season has been shortened to 19 half days in order to comply with European Directives but the enjoyment of it all has certainly not lessened.

Unfortunately for the person with little knowledge on the subject I am portrayed as a peasant, a beast and a number of other lovely adjectives.... Without doubt, hunting in Malta has its small share of illegalities involving the shooting of protected birds for which I, along with many, many others are deliberately labelled with the above adjectives. I've decided to write as I think it is only fair that I get to defend myself and my law-abiding hunter friends.

I shoot only on turtle doves. Presently I do not shoot on quails as I do not have a hunting partner (a dog). For those of you who are wondering why I would need a dog it's because a hunting dog is trained to flush quail. Shooting quail without the help of your dog is not, in my opinion, enjoyable nor sportive which after all is what hunting is all about. I eat all I hunt and due to our small individual quota I team up with other hunters and together we cook all we hunt. This annual meal is shared with our non hunter friends and their families who all look forward to this occasion.

Throughout these past weeks I've discussed the hunting issue with many NO voters in the most decent and respectful way possible. The conversation following my question "why are you voting no?" would infallibly follow with "I just don't like the fact you kill a bird" - granted. My second question would be: "do you eat fish?" All would answer "of course, but it's different because they're not going to breed!"

I'm actually baffled by this argument since fish are caught, sold and consumed all year round with no respect for their breeding habits. Just a few examples: rizzi (sea urchins) mainly served on pasta consists of a sauce made of urchin eggs. Salmon is caught while swimming upstream before laying eggs. White bait fritters are nothing but newborn fish fried to our taste. Then we have our famed tuna that everyone likes to consume for their diet. Most people I have spoken to eat tuna in season and out of season, purchased both from a fishmonger and restaurants across the island. None seem to care that just like our turtle dove, the tuna, a decreasing fish, is also caught in controlled numbers to make the practice sustainable. It seems only the perceived non-existent "extinction" of turtle doves irks people's opinion.

But I must say my favourite hypocrites are those that gladly consume the French delicacy known as foie gras, lamb, veal or poultry and yet object to hunting. It seems that once meat is put in plastic bags it no longer disturbs these people's emotions. So what if a goose is clamped to a machine with a pipe driven down its throat as long as foie gras is delicious? Who cares if a lamb is slaughtered before it even has a chance to grow! Do they bother about chickens kept in confining cages or calves kept immobile to produce the best veal? Certainly not, because I've never heard a word against all this by all those that object to my hunting. Why? Because it's fine for anyone to grab meat off a shelf and eat to his heart's content without bothering to note its provenance. Yet it is disgusting, barbaric and totally unacceptable if I mention that I hunt for the few birds I eat.

Unfortunately, this is how many have been conditioned to act by those opposing hunting. Admittedly we do have a small percentage of hunters that act illegally but intentionally these are portrayed as a majority. The concept of hunting as an enjoyable means of procuring food, which should not be perceived any worse than fishing, has been turned into an abomination. My conscious is clean as I abide by the law as do the majority of hunters. I, and all of my sort, support the implementation of harsh fines as a deterrent for any illegalities and encourage the authorities to enforce such fines since we have nothing to fear.

I am and always will be a law-abiding hunter and will be voting YES in the coming referendum. I ask those who have their doubts to think twice on what they're actually voting for. Whether it's a bird I "kill" or any other animal each and every one of us eats, none die of natural causes. All are put down humanely for our sustenance and there should be no distinction or prejudice on how that is done.

Philip Toledo