Dear Editor,
No guns fired on this day, only silence prevailed; again we can hear the sounds of the wind in the trees and the songs of the birds. No, this is not a war-torn country, this is the Algarve, the weekend when everybody, well nearly everybody, was to be voting.
I awoke to the silence and all the sounds associated with the country, but still knowing that all hell will break loose at 7.30am when the hunters fire their first shots. But 7.30am came and went and not a shot to be heard.
Later I am told that there is no hunting on polling day. Is the government frightened that a would-be voter may be killed, being mistaken for a rabbit? And all the votes count, so it seems the government cares about the votes but not about the people.
Well, that is not quite true; they did bring in a law that hunters must not hunt in a 500-metre circle from a house and maps were sent to us all showing the area around our properties. That is fine but did they also send a copy to all the hunters? I don’t think so, and I am sure the hunters will not go to the câmara to pay for a copy for each area.
Firing resumed Sunday, October 6. The first group passed a house close by, within 200 metres, firing shots. When I informed them they should not be shooting there, the man did not need a gun; the look was enough to kill.
The second group, some 20 minutes later, passed within 30 metres of my land, still within the 500-metre circle from my neighbour’s house. They were all spread out and in hunting mode, and I am sure if some game had showed its head, it would have received some buck shot.
Last year while having lunch with some friends, half-way through lunch a gun went off. A few seconds later a shower of pellets landed on the table and all in the food. We had to throw half of the meal away.
If hunters do not show respect, how can they expect respect? Will any hunter who can read this please tell the others we don’t want to stop your sport, but show respect? And you will be left to enjoy it.
Keith Basham, Algoz
