Trapped in their home surrounded by hunters

As the hunting season shot off to a start, residents living on the outskirts of Mġarr say they are often trapped in their own homes, surrounded by shot-gun pellets and threatening hunters, some of who trespass on private property. One San Martin Estate resident, Caroline Muscat, was yesterday going about her daily chores when she saw a hunter walking around her property looking for a bird he had just shot. When she asked him to get out, he insisted he wanted to retrieve “his” bird. He did, only to return with two others who sat down opposite Ms Muscat’s house, keeping her under their watch-ful gaze, raising their fists and hurling insults. “I could not get out and was being harassed in my own home. Anybody in my position would feel threatened,” Ms Muscat said. A friend of hers, who learnt about the incident from Facebook, immediately called an Administrative Law Enforce-ment officer, whose first reaction was to ask whether the shot bird was protected. When the caller could not answer, he was asked why he was bothering the police and advised “don’t be difficult, let them find the bird”. When contacted, the police insisted the ALE officer took action and apart from “proceeding...