Sanctuary opens for owls dumped by Harry Potter fans

[Donna]

An animal sanctuary has opened to help house unwanted owls bought as pets by Harry Potter fans.
 

Published: 7:00AM BST 25 Aug 2009
Sanctuary opens for owls dumped by Harry Potter fans
RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr said the Potter stories led to a big rise in enquiries about owls from the public

The Potter phenomenon has been blamed for a surge in the number of people buying owls, emulating the young magician who keeps a snowy owl called Hedwig as a pet.

Now an animal sanctuary has opened on the Isle of Wight to help cope with the problem of owls dumped by owners who can no-longer care for them properly.

Animal expert Don Walser, who has opened Newport Owl and Monkey Sanctuary, said: "The problem is that no licence is required, anyone can buy an owl.

"They might look great in the Harry Potter films, but it takes years to train them. Children read the books and see the films and say to their mums and dads they want one and parents don't realise how much care it takes to look after them.

"We have got about 20 owls at the moment, which have come from all over the country.

"I have a pair of snowy owls that were left in a garden by their owners for three days without food. They would have died. It was disgusting.

"Some people keep them in appalling conditions," said Mr Walser.

RSPCA spokeswoman Jo Barr said the Potter stories led to a big rise in enquiries about owls from the public.

"In the past years we have seen an increase in the number of Dalmatians sold after the Disney films and we also saw an increase in the number of turtles after the Ninja Turtles craze.

"We saw a noticeable increase in calls from people wanting to know where they could obtain an owl following the release of the first Harry Potter film," she said.

She said the RSPCA advises that people do not buy owls as pets, which need a lot of care and can live for 20 years.

Although it is illegal to sell wild birds, traders can deal in captive bred specimens, with breeds like snowy owls fetching around £250 a bird.

[valhalla]

A bit early, but...
Bunnies, ducklings, and chicks are bought at Easter and also dumped.  This one drove my mother crazy!    What IS it with People?

[Tokira]

Not exactly part of this thread, but I couldn't find any place else for it...
These people are regular customers in my Home Depot:
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=239804&format=html

Carol
WV

[Donna]

Not exactly part of this thread, but I couldn't find any place else for it...
These people are regular customers in my Home Depot:
http://www.herald-mail.com/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=239804&format=html

Carol
WV

Great article Carol...you can put any animal articles under General nature discussion.