The League Against Cruel Sports and conservationist and wildlife expert and TV personality Bill Oddie OBE will be travelling to Malta from the 14 – 17th of April 2014, to support BirdLife Malta’s campaign to abolish spring hunting of migratory birds.

The UK-based animal welfare charity will raise international awareness by exposing the realities of spring hunting taking place on the popular tourist island. The charity, which has significant experience of campaigning for protection of wildlife through political and legislative channels, will also support BirdLife Malta with their national referendum campaign.

CEO of the League, Joe Duckworth will be joined by wildlife expert and UK TV personality, Bill Oddie, who will also spend time helping make a video to showcase the issue of spring hunting with a view to showing it to much wider UK audience.

Conservationist and League Vice President, Bill Oddie comments, “every spring, literally several million migrant birds are slaughtered round the Mediterranean and it is getting worse. In some countries – Cyprus and Egypt for example – catering for the “local delicacy” trade is big business.”

He added, “but in Malta shooting larger birds out of the sky is purely for fun. The gunmen will say this massacre is tradition and indeed it is. A cruel, wasteful, destructive tradition that may only abate when there are no more birds to kill. It must not get that far. Until now I have boycotted Malta (I have had a lot of first hand experience in Cyprus) but this year I feel I must witness for myself just how bad it is, and see if there is any way that tradition can become history.”

During the visit, Joe Duckworth will also work with BirdLife Malta and other organisations involved in monitoring the spring hunting activity, understanding the impact of hunting on conservation efforts across Europe and the wider impact on areas such as tourism and the quality of life of Maltese residents.

Joe Duckworth, Chief Executive of the League Against Cruel Sports said, “Spring hunting in Malta is nothing but a mass killing spree of birds. Illegal hunting is also a big problem with so many birds including protected species, like harriers and even flamingos being illegally gunned down for fun.”

“A recent YouGov poll revealed that 74% of GB adults feel that the Maltese government should do more to enforce EU law and not permit the hunting of migratory birds in Malta. The poll also revealed that over a fifth of GB adults (21%) said they would be more likely to choose Malta as a holiday destination if more were done to enforce these laws.”

Mr Duckworth, continued: “As our recent polling suggests, shooting birds for sport and continuing to ignore the EU directive will tarnish Malta’s image as a favoured holiday destination.

“Malta is a hotspot for tourists, with 450,000 people holidaying there every year. Many are ignorant to the plight of these birds and we hope that by lending our support to Birdlife Malta we can help shine an international spotlight on the brutality and cruelty taking place.”

Queen guitarist and founder of Save Me, Dr. Brian May has also spoken out against spring hunting by making a plea to Maltese residents to vote against the cruel practice, during his concert in Valletta earlier in the month.

In his blog, Stop Spring Hunting of the migratory birds in Malta, Brian May said, “They basically shoot all kinds of songbirds, including blackbirds and turtle-doves, as they migrate through Maltese Air-Space. Can it be justified in terms of these people being hungry, and needing to eat these small animals? No. Of course not … this is just another manifestation of the vestiges of savagery in Humans – it’s done for pleasure.”

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