The Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), in Malta with its birds guards to monitor the countryside against poachers, criticised a court decision to fine a man €600 for the possession of protected birds.
CABS said the Bahrija man was found guilty of animal cruelty and being illegally in possession of 75 strictly protected birds of wader species.
“This averages out at some €8 per bird,” said CABS, whose bird guards provided the decisive tip-off to the police in September 2008.
“Such a low punishment is simply laughable and only indirectly encourages others continue doing the same”, CABS president Heinz Schwarze said.
The accused came to the attention of the authorities as a CABS patrol suspected that there was a concealed bird collection in the man’s greenhouse near the former maritime radio station, back on 16 September 2008.
The police were informed and searched the complex. They discovered a large aviary which contained 32 Little Stints (Tertuxa), 13 Wood Sandpipers (Swejda Cara), 8 Common Sandpipers (Pispisella), 5 Little Ringed Plovers (Monakella), 5 Green Sandpipers (Swejda), 2 White Wagtails (Zakak Abjad), two Yellow Wagtails (Isfar) and one each of Red-throated Pipit (Dizz Ahmar), Dunlin (Pispisella tad-Dabra), Temminck’s Stint (Tertuxa Griza) and a Ring Ouzel (Malvizz tas-Sidra).
Three other birds died before they could be rescued. “Many of the birds were completely maimed as their wings had been cut back to the bone. This method is often used by bird trappers who work with live bird decoys,” Schwarze said.
“Such mild sentences are sadly no exception on Malta. A bird trapper, caught red-handed illegally trapping Ortolan Buntings and Red-throated Pipits by CABS Bird Guards in May 2008, was sentenced to a fine of €466 a few months ago. The consequences of such judgements are disastrous, and a slap in the face for the Administrative Law Enforcement unit, who despite their lack of resources do a magnificent job,” Schwarze said.
According to CABS, birds on Malta can only be meaningfully protected if convicted poachers receive appropriate punishments.
“Poachers obviously have little fear of prosecution on Malta. This is demonstrated by the case of a man who also has a trapping site near the former maritime radio station south of Bahrija. Although the police seized 49 protected waders there in August 2009 and began criminal proceedings against him, the same man was observed and filmed by a CABS team on 12 September 2008, again trapping protected species,” Schwarze said.
“The police came to the scene and this time seized 29 waders. A week later, on 19 September, the man was once again in his trapping hut with nets and plastic decoys of protected species set out. The man clearly did not care whether the police caught him or not,” the CABS president said.
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