Owls Are Not Pets: How To Save Harry's Faithful Friend

Photo Source   In today's post we're not talking about the Hogwarts exams known as O.W.L.S.. Nope, we're talking about the beloved creatures of the Harry Potter series who we came to know as messengers, companions, and faithful friends

When the Harry Potter series hit it big, the uproar of interest in owls was and continues to be  overwhelming. Like many fans who yearned for our own Hedwig or Errol, we dealt with that desire by buying a plush version, puppet, etc. of Hedwig. However, many adults and parents wanted to please their children's desire for a real bird by taking in an owl as a real family pet.

“If anybody has been influenced by my books to think an owl would be happiest shut in a small cage and kept in a house, I would like to take this opportunity to say as forcefully as I can, ‘You are wrong’.” JK Rowling

Even though the Harry Potter series has ended, there is still an emergence of owls being used as pets and left abandoned here in the U.S. and in the UK. Not too long ago, in fact, it became attention-getting news that large populations of owls in India had started to go 'missing' purely because people still try to capture this magnificent animal, sell, or torture them. Though many owls are dropped off at care shelters, many more are suspected to be left in the wild where they cannot fend for themselves.

As a community, I know many of us simply don't want this as part of our Harry Potter legacy. So, what can we do to help the Hedwigs and Errols of the real world? It's easy:

Reach out! Be a wildlife defender!

There are institutions worldwide available who make it their mission to conserve and keep owls safe.
Find one in your hometown or city, look out for issues that concern these precious owls, and take the right steps to preserving them.

At World Owl Trust and Burrowing Owl Conservation, and Barn Owl Trust, you can donate, and even 'adopt' an owl in your name with a generous contribution.

Instruct other fans who joke or consider getting an owl as a pet that this decision is more harmful than they may believe. We all may love Hedwig but keeping them in a constricted home is not what owls need! Take your passion for owls and become informed about them and what they need to live freely and protected from animal cruelty.

Let's educate other fans that these birds
are more than characters in our favorite books!

Let's make it our mission to save the owls!