A competition for gun dogs organised by hunting lobby FKNK went ahead on Saturday, despite strong objections from animal rights activists.  

The event, which had made provision for the shooting of 180 quails, sparked outrage from animal rights protesters, with Real Animal Rights Foundation (RAR), Animal Liberation Malta and Vuċi għall-Annimali branding it “a clear breach of the Animal Welfare Act”.  

The competition took place between 9.30am and 3.30pm on private land in l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa belonging to families of hunters, according to the Federation for Hunting and Conservation.  

While images and videos on social media focused on hunters shooting the birds as part of the event, the FKNK stressed that the point of the event was a competition for gun dogs, with each dog scored on their abilities to retrieve the downed birds.  

A spokesperson for an animal rights NGO however, told Times of Malta that this could have been achieved by using birds that were already dead, and did not require the use of live birds.  

They added that the area used for the event, and one designated a Natura 2000 site, was currently in a state of ‘regeneration’, and that the activities of the hunters and their dogs had the potential to disturb the activities of protected species including hedgehogs and reptiles.  

Accusing the Environmental and Resources Authority (ERA) of not questioning the availability of an alternative site and the ecological impacts of the competition, Birdlife Malta labelled its decision to grant the hunters a permit “mind-blowing”.  

When contacted for comment, ERA confirmed it had “carried out compliance checks” and found no issues, though it did not address the specific concerns of Birdlife in its statement.  

Over 100 spectators turned up to watch the event, the FKNK said.

Haroon Ali from Animal Liberation Malta reported that one hunter had threatened him and his companions before the arrival of the police overseeing the event.  

“One hunter approached us and told us, ‘It’s not safe for you here... for your own safety I would get out of here’”, Ali said.  

Dismissing the event's validity, he added, “This isn’t the quail’s natural habitat... it’s not even a sport, it’s pathetic.”  

Hitting back at the claims, the president of FKNK Lucas Micallef told Times of Malta that “two people had trespassed on private land, which did put them in danger”, and that the police had spoken to the individuals concerned. 

Labelling the protestors from the NGO as having “extremist views”, Micallef said that critics of hunting do not “see the wider vision of how we care for our dogs... they’re part of our family.” 

When asked why the event was allowed to go ahead following the closing of Malta’s hunting season on January 31, Micallef confirmed that the competition was considered a 'dog training event', and not a hunting event.  

“Far less” than 180 quails were shot, he added.  

While the permit granted by the ERA allowed for a maximum of 20 people, the FKNK confirmed that 36 hunters took part and over 100 spectators attended, though each of the competition’s two zones contained a maximum of six people at a time, it said.