On September 24, 2015, the European Commission referred Malta to the European Union’s top court because of its annual spring hunt of finches. These birds cross Malta’s territory during their spring migration across the Mediterranean from Africa to their breeding grounds in Europe. Hunting birds in the spring is prohibited in the EU, but Malta requests an exemption each year. This past April, voters in Malta passed a referendum that supported the continuation of spring hunts. Proponents of the practice explain that it is custom, whereas critics call the practice cruel because the birds do not have an opportunity to reproduce before they are killed. Criticism of the Maltese practice is not new. In 2009, the European Court of Justice found Malta guilty of allowing bird hunting before the birds were able to reproduce. Malta dismissed formal EU warnings in October 2014 and again in May 2015. For the full story, see http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/malta-eu-court-spring-bird-hunt