哈利波特熱潮散去 大批寵物貓頭鷹遭棄養

An owl sanctuary says it is still feeling the unwanted effect of the Harry Potter films, with high numbers of owls being abandoned.

It is claimed owls' popularity as pets increased in the last decade with many keen to copy JK Rowling's schoolboy hero with his companion Hedwig.

Ian Toothill, of the North Wales Owl Sanctuary, says about 90% of the birds are abandoned "captive-bred" pets.

He says people often do not realise owls smell and are not good pets.

Mr Toothill and his wife Pam have more than 100 birds at the Corwen sanctuary.

Demand for their services increased after the release of the Harry Potter films, which featured actor Daniel Radcliffe with a pet snowy owl.

Mr Toothill said: "We have had quite a big increase in owls coming in from the pet industry over the last 10 years.

There has always been a market for pets for owls for many years, but since Harry Potter came out the increase probably doubled or tripled overnight.”

While the Potter films saw a surge in pet owls, Mr Toothill said the desire for status symbols meant the problem continued, and there were also parents who "can't say no to their children".

He said many birds were "captive-bred" abroad for the pet industry, often taken from their parents as eggs, and would not survive in the wild.

He said they did not "make good pets at all," have sharp talons and can "nip quite badly".

It is known that some owls can live for 50 years.英國一家貓頭鷹收容所稱，“哈利波特”系列電影帶來的負面影響仍在繼續，大量貓頭鷹遭到棄養。

在JK羅琳撰寫的這部系列小說中，哈利-波特養的貓頭鷹海德薇也是他的好夥伴。因此在過去十年中，英國出現了飼養寵物貓頭鷹的熱潮。

北威爾士貓頭鷹收容所的伊恩-圖特希爾說，收容所內90%的貓頭鷹是遭棄養的“人工圈養”寵物。

他說，人們通常沒有意識到貓頭鷹身上有味道，也不好養。

圖特希爾和他的妻子帕姆在康威收容所裏收養了100多隻貓頭鷹。

《哈利波特》系列電影發佈後，他們的業務量大增。在影片中，男星丹尼爾-雷德克里夫飾演的哈利-波特飼養了一隻“雪鴞”。

圖特希爾說：“在過去十年間，我們收養的寵物貓頭鷹數量大增。”

“這些年，寵物貓頭鷹一直很有市場，但自從哈利-波特系列作品問世後，寵物貓頭鷹的數量一夜間增長了兩三倍。

哈利-波特系列作品掀起了飼養寵物貓頭鷹的熱潮，但圖特希爾稱擁有這種“身份象徵”的願望也意味着問題會繼續存在，還有一些家長“無法拒絕子女的要求”。

他說很多貓頭鷹都是從寵物店買回來“人工飼養”的，經常是母貓頭鷹下了蛋就被拿走，這樣長大的貓頭鷹在野外無法存活。

他說貓頭鷹“很難伺候”，爪子很鋒利，而且“啄人也很疼”。