Harry Potter Fans Abandon Pet Owls, find that they make bad pets [View all]
I heard a radio news story about this yesterday. said that people don't realize that owls make bad pets:
1. They will kill and eat other small pets - kittens, rats, mice, Guinea pigs.
2. Their talons and beak are made for slicing through flesh and bone (so no cuddling)
3. their up making noise at night while the Harry Potter fan is sleeping
..other unpleasant stuff.
The Harry Potter craze is fading out and careless pet guardians are abandoning their owls. Many wanted to have an owl as a pet, just like Harry’s Hedwig, but few realized that owls live for 20 years and need lots of space to spread their wings. The same incident happened with pet turtles during the height of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Pets aren’t fads. Prospective pet guardians should do their research and be able to make a full commitment to their pets. Still want a Harry Potter owl? Try the stuffed variety. They are a breeze to clean up after! — Global Animal
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According to the Mirror, fans of the J.K. Rowling series bought owls because of the books and now that the craze has faded, so has the love for their pets. As a result, sanctuaries are now full of abandoned owls and it is feared that some owners have released the wise creatures illegally into the wild, where they’ll most likely starve to death and/or take over areas where smaller wild owls live.
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“Before the films were out I had six owls, now it’s 100. It’s all down to Harry Potter,” Pam Toothill of the Owlcentre in Corwen, North Wales said. “People saw Harry’s owl in the movies and thought how cute and cuddly they looked. Now they are bored and fed-up with all the work involved looking after an owl.”
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Toothill also said, “I know it’s not J.K. Rowling’s fault, but people didn’t think enough about buying an owl before getting one. Owls need enough space to be able to flap their wings five times before landing back on a perch, or they get a chest infection.
“But we had one lady who was keeping two owls in her bedside cabinet in her bedroom. And there was a chap with a European Eagle Owl, which has a 5 feet wingspan, in his one-bedroom flat. It’s insane.”
http://www.globalanimal.org/2012/05/23/harry-potter-fans-abandon-pet-owls/74761/
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