LIZ CLANCY: 3 Owls has a successor, almost

According to the Rochdale Observer, this year will see the Rochdale Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary open up to fill the gap caused by the closure of Three Owls Bird sanctuary and hospital last year. The new sanctuary is set to take care of "small wildlife," according to Carley Smith, one of the chairmen of the sanctuary and also one of the key figures in the Save Our Sanctuary campaign for Three Owls.

The sanctuary has seven directors and one treasurer, who are currently applying for charity status as well as searching for a suitable location. Though some of those involved are former Three-Owlers, Nigel Fowler, manager of Three Owls, won't be joining the new team, though has said he has no problem with its inception.

Rochdale Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary's Facebook and Twitter pages can be found at the links below.

http://pa-in.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109852369932

http://twitter.com/#%21/who_to_follow/search/RWBSanctuary

Three Owls: Liz returns to the zoo / sanctuary legal grey area

This letter also appeared in the Saturday, 6th March 2010 edition of the Rochdale Observer. Again, it is posted here unedited.


When is a sanctuary not a sanctuary? When it's a zoo.

About four months ago I wrote to the Observer about the words Sanctuary and zoo. Now the RMBC [Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council] have found a new word for the meaning of zoo.

A zoo is a place where injured wild birds can be taken, cared for in the hospitals and when recovered released into the wild. Congratulations RMBC but I don't think that meaning will get into the dictionaries do you?

The facts are these.

1. The zoo law was made in 1981: it was made for zoos, not charities, and when the RMBC received it they did not let Three Owls know about it.

Consequently, Three Owls carried on as usual and made it into the marvellous place it was today.

2. The guidelines for it ask councils (who issue the licences) to apply (common sense) as to what is obviously a zoo and what is not.

3. It would appear Rochdale Council has ignored this instruction.

4. An accusation was made about the sanctuary as far back as last June and the organisation Born Free came to check on it. That is their job and they can't be blamed for checking. They deal with licences.

5. RMBC have had all that time to get the Secretary of State to quash the order for Three Owls yet they chose to sit back and continue to give various options to Three Owls which were not viable.

Three Owls would have to demolish all its aviaries and rebuild them with bars round (in zoo law ducks are dangerous, crows are not) where would the 156 bird [sic] go while they did this?

And in the region of £350 000 it was impossible anyway. And in any case why do birds need bars.

6. On February 6th, Mr Nigel Fowler was informed by the council that Three Owls was a zoo not a sanctuary so the members of the trust had no other option but to close. They could not meet the demands of the council.

7. This meant that six people lost their jobs and two lost their homes as well.

Also the work experience for schools/ colleges/ universities and vets have had to be cancelled.
It is not just this. About 2000 birds were brought in each year. What will happen to those now?

Perhaps Mr Andy Glover could tell us?
Our council should be deeply ashamed.
For myself I have lived all my life in Rochdale and have been proud to be a Rochdalian but not any more.

MRS E ROBERTS

Ash Grove
Newhey

Three Owls Correspondence: Part One

The following are letters published in the Rochdale Observer Saturday edition (6th March 2010). The letters are published unedited.

Grey area in zoo rules.

As an invited consultee in the Animal Welfare Bill the issues pertaining to secondary legislation and seeing sanctuaries controlled under licence or registration was covered at a number of meetings I attended with DEFRA.

I raised the issues pertaining to wildlife Sanctuaries opening to the public with (DEFRA) stating in our consultation paper that we believed that wildlife rehabilitation centres/sanctuaries should not be open to the public and that sanctuaries should either work with domestic animals or wildlife as the two should not be kept in the same location.

It was considered that perhaps a Zoo licensing scheme would be too expensive and it looked favourable that sanctuaries would come under a registration scheme, although this still has to be put out for consultation.

So it is fair to assume I was greatly intrigued by reading a case where animal rights organisation Born Free had approached Rochdale Council about the status of the Three Owls sanctuary's license under the relevant legislation.

This enquiry from an animal rights group that has no connection to UK wildlife only that of a UK Shark survey, so it seemed strange as to why a bird sanctuary was picked out and the issue of as to whether it held a zoo licence.

A zoo is defined in the act as being 'an establishment where wild animals are kept for exhibition - to which members of the public have access, with or without charges for admission, on more than seven dates in any period of 12 consecutive months'.

Now this must be relevant to many sanctuaries across the UK and this apparent test case could well have compromised animal welfare and as this has brought about the closure of Three Owls surely this little known piece of Government legislation will undoubtedly see the closure of many more.

The Government need to immediately address this ridiculous issue and set the record straight.

As it appears that any animal sanctuary that opens to the public and allows visitors to see the animals needs a zoo licence and apparently this Act recognises the wide range of establishments by allowing dispensations to be granted for small zoos.

We have Animals in Need in Irchester, near Wellingborough that opens to the public and takes in wild animals and keeps both domestic animals and wildlife and could be seen as a risk in regard to spread of disease and if the 1981 act is enforced this will mean that all safety measures must be implemented such as guard rails installed along with guided tours in line with how a zoo works.

This has left a grey area concerning those that solely work within the realms of true wildlife rehabilitation and do not open to the public. There need [sic] to be a clearly defined working practice so that it is one law for all and not picking on the individuals.

I had worked for over 45 years within the realms of avi-culture and wildlife rehabilitation and have never opened to the public. We handled in excess of 4000 animals a year and worked closely with many organisations and after reading the appalling actions of Born Free and red tape bureaucracy within the Government departments I am truly pleased we have ceased our work.

ANDREW MEADS

Safewings Wildlife Conservation Projects
Isham
Northants

LIZ CLANCY: Three Owls Report - UPDATE

Three Owls Bird Sanctuary has been forced to close. According to their website they received a letter from Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council telling them they had to obtain a zoo licence in order to continue to operate, despite the fact that the sanctuary and hospital are not a zoo!

The Rochdale Observer recently reported that the 'complaint' made about 3 Owls as an unlicenced zoo was made by (believe it or not) the Born Free Foundation. This information came from a council spokesperson. However, Littleborough (near Rochdale) resident Peter Reed contacted Born Free, whose legal department 'strongly refute any intention to close this or any other sanctuary or animal hospital.' The charity did make enquiries about the licencing of 3 Owls and similar institutions but insist they did not complain about any of them.

Mr Reed's letter can be found in this morning's edition of the Rochdale Observer (Saturday edition), as well as others about the matter.

So it's the end of an era and we're not even sure exactly why! Whatever the truth, the closure of the sanctuary and hospital is causing unnecessary upheavel for all concerned: the birds are having to settle into new homes and the paid staff are now jobless. According to the website two are now even homeless!

A petition has been started with the intention of changing legislation so that other sanctuaries do not have to go through this situation. It can be found here:


http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/birdsanctuary/

LIZ CLANCY: Three Owls Report

Three Owls is a hospital and bird sanctuary based in Norden, Rochdale. It opened in 1962 and is staffed by a mixed team of both paid and voluntary staff, and is managed by Nigel Fowler. Last year the hospital treated 2104 birds, 55% of which were released upon recovery; those of the remaining 45% that survived but could not be completely healed, now reside in the sanctuary and will for life.

Three Owls is a remarkable place. Though its main function is as a working hospital and haven for birds, visitors can be admitted and shown around the site (please see http://www.threeowls.co.uk/ for details). However, Three Owls is not a zoo. They do not keep exotic or endangered animals, and the birds in the sanctuary are not kept for display; they are merely too unwell or too domesticated to be safely released. No admission fee is charged, though donations are welcome. Much has been reported recently in local newspapers (and on our own blog a couple of weeks ago) about the accusation that Three Owls are operating as an unlicensed zoo, and may, as a result, be forced to close.

Having visited the sanctuary recently and spoken to Len, a member of staff who kindly showed us round, I can report that the situation is hopefully looking less dire. Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council have been to inspect the site a second time and it appears that they may well accept what the team at Three Owls have been saying all along: they are NOT a zoo! What appears to have happened is that someone with some sort of axe to grind, has complained about the sanctuary, accusing it of being an unlicensed zoo. No one has any idea who this could have been or why on earth anyone could possibly object to the sterling work done at Three Owls, but the people at the council are obliged to act on any complaint. Fingers crossed, nothing will actually come from it.

However, Three Owls still needs your help. In order to continue treating and releasing wild birds into its four-acre woodland reserve, and in order to keep such personalities as Molly the raven in minced meat, the registered charity relies heavily on the kindness of visitors and well-wishers. If you would like to donate, please visit the website for details of how to do this.