The hunting association Kaccaturi San Ubertu (KSU) has called on the government to introduce laws against acts of “provocation”, “acts of hate”, and “continuous interference or scrutiny from extremists” on hunters and members of the hunting community.
In a statement on Monday, KSU referred to an incident reported on Sunday where another hunters’ association – the FKNK – claimed that a trapper had been attacked by a foreign couple. It also referred to a separate incident where it said that a foreign couple had trespassed on private property to open a cage and let a bird escape from it.
“These and other illegal acts of provocation happen regularly against hunters and trappers from extremist people who do not agree with these hobbies and are ready to take the law into their own hands”, KSU said.
They said that it is a fact that while the government has implemented “harsh” laws against abuse in hunting and trapping, there are no such laws which “protect hunters and trappers in practicing their legal hobby without provocation, acts of hate, trespassing to private property, breach of privacy, and continuous interference and scrutiny from extremist people who are ready to go to any length to tarnish our country and provoke enthusiasts for the purpose of their own propaganda.”
They referred to a decision taken by the Italian government, which had “appreciated the situation wherein extremism resulted in illegal acts such as aggression, damage to property, and intentional disturbance to hunters.”
Indeed, they said that the Italian government has implemented a law where it is illegal to “disturb a hunter”, and where it is a fineable offence with a penalty of up to € 3,600.
KSU said that besides expecting action from the police on the alleged incidents they reported, they “augured” that the Maltese government recognises the situation wherein “a section of foreigners and local people are taking the law into their own hands to impose their extremist views against the legal practice of hunting and trapping” and to legislate against “this type of dangerous extremism which is having ugly consequences.”
The incident with regards to the trapper who was allegedly attacked by a foreign couple as mentioned by KSU was condemned by NGO BirdLife Malta - who have frequently been at loggerheads with hunting lobbies over their contrasting views - who said that they condemn all form of violence even when it allegedly takes place against hunters and trappers.
They said however that "any incident, however, is a drop in the ocean when compared to years of abuse, violence, intimidation and hate speech coming from many members of the hunting and trapping lobby and directed to environmentalists and BirdLife Malta staff, volunteers and members together with members of other environmental organisations."
The hunting lobby has been in the headlines as of late, not least due to the recent decision by the government to hand over two of Malta’s biggest green areas – L-Ahrax and Mizieb – in Mellieha to the main hunting lobby, the FKNK.
The agreement was signed in a ceremony to which the media was not invited, with Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg unable to give a clear explanation to why this happened. The agreement signed was only published after it was signed.
The statement also comes in a record year for illegal hunting, with NGO BirdLife Malta reporting that 152 birds have been illegally shot in the whole year as of the beginning of this month.