Submitted by ANIMAL RIGHTS MALTA’S BLOG

Today’s The Times publishes two replies to Danica Rosso’s absurd pro-hunting letter of February 29, one from Joe Aquilina-St John, and another (an abridged verson of my blog post of February 29) from myself.

Mr Aquilina-St John writes:

“It seems that the hunting fraternity has run out of hare-brained (sic) excuses as to why it should continue with its killing and trapping sprees.

First it was ‘tradition’ and ‘hobby’; then ‘broken promises’ followed by their being able to ‘hunt in the UK’. As all these have been shot down - just like any protected birds that fly over Malta - they are now trying to pull at the heart-strings by claiming that if spring hunting is abolished, then the ‘poor hunting dogs’ will suffer!

It is true that their dogs have been bred to ‘fetch’ fallen birds, but to say they will fret and become restless if they are not allowed to participate in spring hunting is taking matters to a ridiculous level. Do these dogs fret and become restless in the many months between the spring and autumn hunting season? Or do the hunters put them on tranquillisers for this ‘resting’ period?
The hunters could always take them to the countryside and throw ‘dummy’ birds or sticks for them to fetch, and thus keep them active and in good condition.

And before the ‘UK hunting’ brigade starts comparing Maltese hunting dogs to those in the UK, these are two completely different breeds: the UK fox hunters were concerned about their dogs because they do not have just one, but a whole pack which ‘belongs’ to the hunt, and so could not find enough homes for them. In Malta, the majority of hunters have only one dog - at the most two (and some none!) - so they are kept at home, or in some unfortunate cases, locked in a garage.

Next excuse will surely be that if the guns are not fired in spring, they will seize up! If only!”

Meanwhile, my letter as published in The Times goes as follows:

“Danica Rosso’s justification of hunting out of concern for the ‘hunting’ dogs (February 29) is of course ridiculous. Dogs exposed to hunting do not become ‘enamoured’ with this ‘hobby’. That belief is just a simple case of anthropomorphism.

It is true that some dogs might have retained a hunting instinct, even though domestication and human feeding makes this doubtful. It must be noted, however, that ‘hunting’ dogs do not hunt birds (to do this they would need either guns or wings). ‘Hunting’ dogs simply fetch birds which the human hunter kills. The object they fetch could easily be a rubber ball.
Regarding the claim that come spring, ‘hunting’ dogs display an unequivocal longing to be out in the country and ‘do what they do best: hunt’, is a very simplistic way of seeing things.

Since dogs are capable of cognitive association, they associate the ‘hunting season’ with the fact that during this season they will generally spend much more time in the countryside with their ‘owner’. Since dogs’ unfortunate status today is that of being human property, they depend on their ‘owner’ for even simple (but necessary) enjoyments such as an outing to the countryside, which is still possible without hunting.

The claim that ‘hunting’ dogs long to ‘do what they do best: hunt’, is also clearly false. Since ‘hunting’ dogs do not hunt at all, then hunting cannot be ‘what they do best’.

So, to answer Ms Rosso’s questions, it is not cruel to deprive dogs of hunting, for the simple reason that ‘hunting’ dogs do not actually hunt. Also, those, like me, who oppose hunting for animal rights reasons do not do so just out of ‘love’ for non-human animals. We oppose hunting as a matter of justice.

In essence, this means that no sentient individual should be exploited or killed just for someone else’s pleasure, be that someone human or non-human.

The question is not: ‘Should we choose the dog over the bird or the bird over the dog?’, but: ‘Should we sacrifice the greater interest of a bird (life itself) for the significantly lesser interest of a dog in fetching dead birds, especially when this can be replaced with an equally satisfying (for the dog, not the human hunter) practice of fetching inanimate objects?’

People who truly care about all animals, and not just birds or dogs, will know the answer to my question”.

Considering that all pro-hunting “arguments” have been “shot down”, hunters are left with only one “justification” for their practice: They find gratification and enjoyment out of the practice of killing birds.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.