Bamber's story is different to Annie's but the cause is just the same.
Indiscriminate breeding by people only interested in their commercial value. Easy accessibility by inexperienced people due to a flooded market and an excessively low price.
       Bamber's owner's rang me because they thought he had a broken wing, (they'd seen a swelling on the left wing joint,) and they could not afford
veterinary treatment. I refused to treat the bird unless they signed ownership over to me which they eventually agreed to do.

So I sat back and waited for them to arrive fully expecting an owl with a broken wing.  I was horrified when I saw him. I'm just glad they sought help and signed him over, because on admittance, without treatment he had about 2 hours to live! He had full body oedema as a direct result of hypoproteinaenemia. (If you break that word down into three it is self explanatory.) Caused by malnutrition, blood sugars almost zero, body proteins almost non-existent and completely out of sync. In short, a really rotten diet.

     When he came in he felt like a fat bird. But in reality he was emaciated, (198gms!). He just felt fat because all his body fluids had leaked out and collected under the skin. Even along his wings were swollen. Soon after admittance he popped some of these big blisters and lost so much body fluid he collapsed. We had to pop him on a hot water bottle and inject fluids directly into him. When he was conscious I dripped glucose into him and put him under a heat lamp. Since then he's been on Hartmann's fluid treatment, glucose and mince meat.
    I silently queried the mess on his face, but I soon discovered what it was. His original owners wouldn't have admitted they'd fed him on brawn, but his face is caked with it, all dried and solid, weighing his head down. I had to bathe him to soften it, and cut most of it away.
   After two days, he was able to swallow two small mice, with a little help. He gradually became stronger and gained weight, although I suspect the side effects of his condition may be chronic kidney and liver malfunction which may shorten his life.
   I don't think the owners intended to be cruel, as such. They got a barn owl because it's cute and cuddly, at least this one is, so they've spent some time loving it. But they simply haven't got the finances to keep it properly.
     Casual owners are not like large sanctuaries, who buy food in bulk and freeze it at 1.8p per chick. They buy food from a pet shop at 8 and 10p per chick, or 80p-£1 per mouse. At 5 chicks, or 10 mice a day, or thereabouts, an owl can soon become an expensive commodity. They then have to seek cheaper and alternative ways of feeding it. That's when the rot sets in. I have known people in the past give tinned cat food when desperate! Human beings are thoughtless when trying to achieve their 'ambitions.' In the end the only creature who suffers is the owl.
    But then of course this has always been the real problem concerning barn owls in captivity and birds will continue to suffer until people become more aware of the problems being created.

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