The Coalition for the Abolition of Spring Hunting (CASH), in a statement today has “denounced plans by the FKNK to launch a petition to Parliament. The petition which is intended to amend the Referendum Act to protect minority rights, as profoundly undemocratic and unethical.”

Coalition spokesperson Christian Debono said, “claiming that hunters deserve protection from the wishes of voters because they are a minority group is a blatant attempt to twist the meaning of minority rights. Such rights apply to people who might be persecuted because of their religion, ethnicity or their sexual orientation. Shooting birds for fun does not qualify for such protection and no one should be convinced by this smokescreen.”

Dr Rodolfo Ragonesi, Coalition Spokesperson, said, “the democratic process is the basis of our society, and stretches much further than any particular issue. It is shameful that we see an attempt by one lobby to curtail the voter’s power to further their limited, narrow, selfish aims. Shooting birds on their way to breed has absolutely nothing to do with minority rights. If killing is ever deemed to be a right, it would be an atrocious perversion of justice”.

The Coalition also reaffirmed its efforts to proceed with its referendum petition to take the matter of spring hunting to the people.

Christian Debono added, “the hunting lobby has made successive governments so frightened to deal with spring hunting that it has effectively denied the people a say in the matter. We call on everyone who has not yet signed the petition to join the more than 30,000 people who have already signed.”

The referendum will seek to abolish the hunting of Turtle Dove and Quail in spring because of their declining population and the impact of spring hunting on other protected species.

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