RSPCA: Birdkeeping ban for Cumbria man who kept dozens of mistreated and injured owls in shed

Warning: This story contains content which may be upsetting.

A Cumbria man has been banned from keeping birds for five years after RSPCA inspectors found dozens of ailing owls across two properties - including one with a neurological condition which left it rolling around the floor of its cage.

Paul Allen Rose, 71, of Barrow-in-Furness, was last month handed a 20-week suspended prison sentence and put under a 9pm to 7am curfew for a month at the Preston Crown Court, after pleading guilty to three Animal Welfare Act offences. They included causing unnecessary suffering to a tawny owl and a barn owl, as well as not meeting the needs of a further 26 owls.

The court heard that Rose kept a total of 31 owls, including tawny, snowy and eagle owls - as well as some more unusual species like Indian scops, burrowing owls, and Australian boobooks. Five of the birds were kept at his home, and 26 at a lock-up in Brady’s Yard, the court heard.

The RSPCA were called to the two sites in March 2022 to check the birds’ welfare, where they found owls with obvious neurological conditions and injuries, which did not appear to have received proper vet care. Most of the birds were also being kept in cramped, unsuitable conditions - including dog crates not much wider than their wing-span.

Inspector Amy McIntosh said: “When I attended Foxfield Road to assist police with a warrant, I found two tawny owls stacked in dog cages on top of each other. Both of them were showing neurological conditions. One was rolling around in his cage unable to stand properly. Mr Rose told me the owls had been given to him by vets and that they were wild owls. He said they had been in this condition for a number of months.”

On the same day, Inspector McIntosh moved on to Rose’s lock-up at Brady’s Yard, where police had to force entry. The RSPCA and vet surgeon Elliott Simpson examined each of the 26 birds kept there.

“The lock-up unit was very cramped with a large number of cages containing numerous owls of various species. The cages varied in size from larger enclosures for the eagle owls to some cages which were simply small dog crates,” Inspector McIntosh continued.

None of the cages appeared to contain any water, she said. Some of the owls were visibly disabled with hanging wings, indicating they had broken them at some point. They were all removed from the property.

Dr Simpson said that his overall impression was that the birds’ housing was “woefully inadequate”. There were no windows and the lighting was all switched off, he said, and it was dusty and cramped. Dr Simpson also examined the birds from Rose’s residence, and found one which appeared to have a serious neurological deficit and was unable to stand - constantly rolling around the floor of the cage.

Rose told inspectors the bird, a tawny owl, had been that way as long as he had owned it. He agreed for it and another with a broken wing, to be euthanised on welfare grounds.

Dr Smith said that birds of prey were skilled at hiding signs of injury and disease, so these ones were clearly in physical distress. “All suffering observed and documented on this inspection could have been reasonably avoided,” he added.