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From The Malta Independent August 25, 2001
Malta has not been forgotten
This a copy of an open letter sent to the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister, the Home Affairs Minister,
the Tourism Minister, the police commissioner, the Environmental Protection Department director, the Malta Tourism Authority
chairman, the EU delegation to Malta head and the ambassadors of EU states represented on the island.
The annual
bird migration from their northern breeding areas to winter quarters is once again underway.
Members of our organisation
will be attending the annual raptor camp in Malta in September and their experiences and impressions of the island and its
people will be recorded and published by Proact.
Over the past weeks and months we have received a flood of mail
and letters protesting against the slaughter of migratory birds over Malta. A selection is shown below. They are printed unedited,
as they vividly show the strong and widespread personal disgust and frustration that the killing and trapping of birds on
the islands generates. Many others have written direct to the Maltese authorities and newspapers. It would be unwise to underestimate
the growing anger and disbelief that such practices are still tolerated in a civilised country. We leave you to draw your
own conclusions as to the effects that this has, and will continue to have, on Maltas image abroad and, inevitably, the tourist
economy.
Proact will continue to publicise such outrages until it becomes clear that a real effort is being made
by the government and its executive organs to put an end to the killing, trapping and imprisoning of migrating birds. The
seeming indifference to date over genuine expressions of concern from outside Malta does not augur well; but we hope that
common-sense, or even political calculation, will eventually prevail.
Please do not send us acknowledgements that
our letter has been sent to the appropriate authorities for their consideration. You can help your economy by saving the postage
costs. It is about time that all politicians in Malta, at whatever level, realise that this matter concerns all of them and
not just the desk officer or policeman who has to cope with the results of their inaction, ignorance or disinterest.
David Conlin
Berlin, GERMANY
Proact
Letters to Proact
(an unedited
selection)
I hereby offer my support to your organisation in an effort to stop the appalling slaughter
of large numbers of migratory birds as they pass through and over Malta.
Jerry Warne
UK
I support your protest campaign against the annual spectacle of the Maltese migrating bird hunt. Even ignoring the
fact that this is a barbaric custom, it is extremely selfish, on a par with trophy hunters of the past, and has no place in
the modern environment we have today. It also provides no scientific information that is useful for the survival of the species
indeed, the very act itself is highly likely to be jeopardising those populations whose individuals pass over these islands.
Dr. K. J. Caley, Zoologist/
Marine Biologist
UK
Please
put me into the campaign. Best wishes and good luck with enough letters.
Dr Edwin Donath,
Max
Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces,
Potsdam, GERMANY
Please include me. I
wrote years ago to the papers and the President regarding the slaughter.
Joan Thompson
UK
Im supporting the protest against the barbaric bird slaughter on Malta! I hope the birds fight back
like in the Hitchcock movie!
Ulf Hedlund
SWEDEN
Im horrified at
the fact that you dont put an end to this awful behaviour! Its time that we start to treat animals with the same respect we
want for ourselves. They deserve nothing less!
Jeanette Holmgren
Sweden
I fully agree with the content of your letters targeted leading decision-makers and opinion-formers on Malta. I want
my name under all of them.
Goran Mellbring,
MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Sweden
My wife and I visited Malta in November 1999 and were disgusted by the trapping
clap nets we saw, the finches in cages as decoys and the shooting cabins all around the coast, and of course the shots.
In our opinion, Malta should not be allowed to join the EU until it puts its bird laws in line with the rest of the EU.
And of course we will not be tourists again in Malta we love open spaces and birds.
Peter and
Fran Wolstenholme
IRELAND
We must put a stop to the barbaric bird slaughter in Malta
that is currently going on!
Thomas Magnusson
Sweden
Stop the bird-slaughtering
on Malta!
I will never visit Malta as a tourist because of what is going on.
Eric Magnusson
Sweden
I am a resident of the state of Nebraska in the United States. I love to watch birds and may
someday get to Malta if there are any birds left there.
Please stop the senseless slaughter and capture of migrating
birds. If this continues, many species will disappear, as did the passenger pigeon in the eastern United States.
Carolyn Hall
USA
One thing I like to see when I travel is the wildlife, and
especially the birds. I would never think of travelling to Malta with this history of bird killings. Animal abuse is considered
to be done by mentally-ill people.
Are all the Maltese people mentally ill? Who could commit such murders and who
could stand by while others kill these birds and do nothing? This is not the kind of place I want to go to for a vacation.
It is not what anyone in the US would want to see on their vacations either.
Humans will never be happy until they
torture and murder everything on earth, including other humans.
Sandra M. Cannon
USA
Please see that a stop is put to the slaying of these beautiful birds.
Sincerely,
Peggy Wareham
USA
Stop this senseless killing. Too bad humans act like this.
If they are anything like some I have known, they kill for the fun of it, and dont even eat the bird. Sick!
Brenda Marie
USA
The barbaric bird slaughter on Malta must stop!
Debora, Rovello Porro (CO), Italy
Please add my name to the various letters to be sent
to representatives of the Maltese Government in protest at the continuing hunting of birds. Well done for keeping the issue
in the public domain, and keep up the good work.
Eugene Archer
DubliN, Ireland
PS: You can also add that hell will freeze over before Ill set foot in Malta, and I shall be encouraging everyone I know,
whether theyre interested in birds or not, to boycott the country and its tourist industry!
Can
you add me on the list of protesting birders against killing of migrating birds on Malta? I have read it on your page and
I strongly support the protest against this kind of cynic slaughter.
Samuel Pacenovsky
Slovakia
My name is Alexsandra Kyrzakos and I am from Canada. Please add my name and my husbands name,
Paul Elieff, to all of your petitions to stop the bird slaughter in Malta.
God Bless!
Alexsandra
Kyrzakos
Canada
I am writing to protest against the bird slaughter in Malta. All species
in our precious ecosystem should be left as they are.
Wendy Lochner
Sayville, NY
USA
I understand from various sources that migratory birds are still being killed by
the Maltese people. Migratory birds are a beauty and a benefit for all people everywhere. I strongly object to the unpleasant
Maltese habit of killing the small songsters whose presence I would otherwise enjoy. I urge the government of Malta finally
to make the killing of wild birds illegal, to bring to justice any criminal found to be killing birds, and to make public
the findings of court proceedings.
Eileen Cameron
UK
I wish to
protest against the slaughter of birds in Malta.
My sisters and I were planning an extended trip to the Med this
Fall. We will skip Malta and visit only countries that do not condone barbaric practices.
Bobbie Fisher
USA
Having been to Malta (just the once was enough) you have my wholehearted support.
Sadly, time constraints prevent me offering much in the way of active support.
John Wilson
Wales
Of course I agree. I was already helping these guys in the mid-sixties!
Norman
van Swelm
Netherlands
I will willingly support the Malta campaign with my signature.
It completely disgusts me whats going on in the Mediterranean.
Carl Baggott
UK
Such actions of cruelty against birds and other animals in overseas countries are forcing me to vote with
my feet, and I will no longer visit such countries until they review their policies.
I wish you every success with
the campaign and genuinely hope that the governments of these countries realise that people find this type of action not only
sickening but unnecessary.
Janet Ward
UK
I have heard the Malta
story in great detail from a bunch of Maltese birders who came and stayed on my farm in Zimbabwe quite a few years back.
It is a totally sickening situation and you may certainly add my name to any proposals that you wish to send to the Maltese
Government. The Brits have been trying for donkeys years to force some opposition, but the hunting lobby is so strong that
the government bows to it, although occasionally pays lip service to the EU. I do not really know just how to pressurise these
people apart from putting a trade embargo on all guns and ammunition, but then the illegal gun-runners would get to work at
night.
Tony Tree
South Africa
I support your actions to create
an opinion against the bird slaughter in Malta!
Mikael Dahlberg
Lund, Sweden
Please add my name to the petition (or similar sentiments):
Eddy Blyth, Karen Casey, Brian Sharkey,
Chris Lamsdell, Sean Huggins, Roger Hughes, Judith Smith, Rob Innes, Alina Congreve, Dave and Jane Pearson, Nick Pomiankowski,
John Farrar, Chris Anson, Chris Mead, Andy and Jackie McKee, Gruff Dodd, Andy Mabbett, Ceri Jones, Janet Jones, Sian Jones,
Steve Hay, Martyn Hall, Paul Chandler, Paula Shepherd, Verity Townshend and Maisie Townshend UK.
Drs. Q.L. Slings,
Jo Seegers, Guus van Duin, biologist/journalist, Kees Bakker, Sake de Vlas, Kitty Bakker-Nuberg and Pim Wolf The Netherlands.
Arnau Bonan Barfull Spain.
Claire Spottiswoode South Africa.
Alexandre Goueffon France.
Juha Koskinen, Olli Tenovuo Finland.
Ola Nilsson, Stefan Oscarsson, Lars Svensson, Anna Palm, Christer Sjoang,
Sigvard Lundgren, Ingemar Amberndtsson and Frida Annerbock Sweden.
Yvon Princen and Erik van Bogaert Belgium.
Dr Maria Paspaleva and Dr Matei Talpeanu, ornitholgists Bucuresti, Romania.
Gail Wehunt, Janice Boyd PhD , Kitty
Araiyama, Len Torvinen, Ann Torvinen, Margery Olsen, Karli Fitzmaurice, Katie Fitzmaurice, Gloria Van Dellen, Wilma Wells,
Betty Jean Herner, Denise Fainberg, Jody Keelin, Lori and Richard Rothstein and Gail Cross USA.
Jeff Price, Ibis
Excursions, Bird, Nature & Photography Tours Denmark.
Fiona Courtis and Philip Griffin Australia.
John
Spiteri-Gingell, Ursula Franke, Oliver Nessen Germany.
Alf Tore Mjs and Biret Mret Kallio Norway.
Cyril
Schonbochler Switzerland.
Dermot McCabe Ireland.
Diego Rubolini, Marta Rubolini, Silvana Erbice , Agostino
Rubolini, Violetta Longoni, Renato Longoni, Fiorella Busin, Leonella Lonardoni, Silvino Erbice, Giovanni Erbice, Benedetta
Erbice, Pedroni Maria Alberta, Paola Furini, Giovanni Venegoni, Antonio Montanari, Silvio Vincenzi, Claudia Valoriani and
Fabio Mirandola, Andrea Tarozzi, Chiara Scandolara and Bruno Caula Italy.
David Conlin
Proact: http://proaction.tripod.com
Berlin, GERMANY
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