|
© 2005 Three Owls Bird Sanctuary
|
|
Sorry but the bird hospital is now closed!
5th February 2010
It is with great sadness today, that we find ourselves having to close the doors on our hospital and aviary-work with the birds. It has become increasingly difficult in recent years to keep up with an ever increasing wall of red tape and legislation, and we now find there is no way forward for Three Owls to continue in its present form. The final straw arrived a few days ago in the form of a council letter.
“Discussions between yourself and Council officers on earlier occasions have allowed the Council to understand the current operating practises on site. Details of these have been relayed to the Council's legal team on two separate occasions; in both instances it has been deemed that the current operating practices lie within the scope of the Act, thereby requiring the Sanctuary to obtain a Zoo Licence. “
The Sanctuary Trustees have explored possible angles to try and meet the Councils requirements for Zoo Licensing, however, as the Charity has never been designed to be a zoo with all the implications that brings with it, then it is neither physically feasible nor financially viable to try and meet all the regulations or exemptions which Rochdale Council are insisting are met.
I am very much aware of all the hard work that the public have gone to in providing funding in answer to our Appeals; had this simply been a funding matter, then we may have stood a greater chance of overcoming it. However it is far more than that, funding has been tight, but we were getting through that. This legislation we have been faced with is insurmountable with the way Three Owls is set out to operate, I just wish they had presented the Act to us back in 1981 when it first came to power. As it now stands, Three Owls would be classed as a zoo, and the implications that come with that are onerous and far too costly both in terms of money and bird welfare – hence the difficult but essential decision to close.
From today we will not be accepting new casualties into the hospitals, and we will endeavour to find good homes at other sanctuaries for all the birds that cannot be released in the near future, or are permanent residents. The four-acre Nature Reserve is already set into Trust and will have a tidy-up and a tree-planting session this Spring, before being securely sealed up, and letting nature take over in the grounds. It is already home to a multitude of wild birds and animals, and it is imperative that whatever happens to the buildings and land at the top of the Sanctuary, that the Reserve itself remains intact and self-sustaining.
We will endeavour to ensure that as much help and guidance is given to other Bird Sanctuaries in the UK whose facilities may not currently be as good as ours were, and see where we can help out with the relocation of our own sheds, aviaries, and hospital equipment.
Closing the Sanctuary is very much a last resort, and this decision has only been taken when we are sure that there are no other viable options left open to us. It is however, a decision that the Trustees have collectively made, and it is important for the birds' welfare that WE make it, and don't have closure forced upon us. This ensures that we have the timescale needed to re-house the resident birds in the coming months, with Sanctuaries where we know they will have a home for life, as opposed to us being served 'Notice to Close' where we might only have had a couple of weeks and the chances of finding suitable homes much slimmer.
The funds we have at present will be used to continue the treatment of those birds already in our care, and suitable donations will accompany those birds which we are able to re-house elsewhere. The Lottery 300 Club will close as of today, and all outstanding monies refunded to the members. No new subscriptions or adoptions will be accepted, and anyone wishing to make a donation to Three Owls will have it made clear that they are donating towards the work on the Reserve. All restricted funds grant monies are being returned to their donors.
I really am sorry to have to ever give such sad news out. I have given the last 32 years of my life to getting Three Owls to be the best it could be, and the Trustees themselves have collectively given 102 years to the charity. Mrs Watkinson herself gave her life to trying to keep Three Owls afloat. We must take consolation that for every single bird saved (and we're talking tens of thousands)…. it has been worth it.
Nigel S Fowler
Trustee
Dr David J. Unwin, MB-ChB MRCGP
Nigel S. Fowler
Stewart M. F. Jennings BA Vet MB MRCVS Registered Charity No 298352
|
|
|
