Barn Owls as pets!!!!

nelliethehooker replied on 12/10/2019 19:40

nelliethehooker

Posted on 12/10/2019 19:40

Most concerned today!! We saw a couple of large guys with 3 Barn Owl chicks, of about 6 weeks of age, out by Wooler Common Ponds. They had placed one chick onto the branch of a tree and were taking multiple photos of it. I guess they would be doing the same with the other two in turn. I enquired whether they were going to release them in time, but one guy said that he reared birds of prey and these would go to other people. I then ask if they were for display purposes but he replied that they were going as pets!! Unbelievable that some people should want a Barn Owl as a pet and that the guy was obviously selling them for a profit. I suppose that the photos would have been posted on line and the birds would be passed onto the highest bidders. Disgraceful. I see that the Barn Owl Trust doesn't recommend them that they be kept as pets but it obviously allowed in this country. However the United States does not allow private individuals to keep native owls as pets--they may only be possessed by trained, licensed individuals while being rehabilitated, as foster parents in a rehabilitation facility, as part of a breeding program, for educational purposes. I wonder why we don't follow this practice.

Rant over.

3 people like this

35 replies

brue replied on 21/10/2019 14:32

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brue

Motorhomer

Posted on 21/10/2019 14:32

It's more to do with getting prosecutions etc but you need to read the details. Much the same with any proceedings, it can make the process more difficult.

nelliethehooker replied on 21/10/2019 20:11

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nelliethehooker

Caravanner from Cumberland

Posted on 21/10/2019 20:11

Brue, I can't see that the RSPCA would do anything as I've no photos of injured chicks, so any report I made to them would be just that, a report. Perhaps if I'd reported it directly to them at the time something may have been done, but it's much too late now I think. It's just the fact that certain people can rear and sell these beautiful creatures for a profit & for others to keep them as pets that's so upsetting.

brue replied on 21/10/2019 20:18

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brue

Motorhomer

Posted on 21/10/2019 20:18

I understand Nellie (I expect you meant RSPB?) but you never know they may have had similar reports about the people concerned and it could help prevent future activities.

nelliethehooker replied on 22/10/2019 21:18

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nelliethehooker

Caravanner from Cumberland

Posted on 21/10/2019 20:18 by brue

I understand Nellie (I expect you meant RSPB?) but you never know they may have had similar reports about the people concerned and it could help prevent future activities.

Posted on 22/10/2019 21:18

No brue, I did mean the RSPCA, the RSPB said that they can't do anything at all. This is what they said:-

"Barn owls can be legally kept as pets if they have been reared in captivity, are fitted with a microchip or loose ring and have a licence known as an Article 10 which is issued by the government. If you are concerned about their welfare, then it would be the RSPCA who would investigate further as they are a welfare organisation."