Harry Potter's poor owls are living a 'nightmare'

Animal rights campaign group PETA, which claim that owls at the Harry Potter studio tour are cruelly kept in cages and terrified by music and camera flashes, has released a secret video footage showing the birds in tiny pens, chewing their tethers, shaking their heads and apparently being made to do tricks for the crowds.

Peta director Mimi Bekhechi said that confining frightened owls to tiny cages where they can only chew at their tethers in frustration goes against every message of respect and kindness that JK Rowling's wonderful books taught people.

Bekhechi added that the three-year-old theme park in Leavesden, Hertfordshire should "stay magical, not cruel" by excluding live animals.

In a letter to Warner Brothers , which runs the tour, Peta's Yvonne Taylor claimed that "the 'trainers' supervising the tour showed gross negligence both in handling the birds and in ensuring public safety.

Taylor added that owls have especially acute vision and find blinding camera flashes extremely distressing, which can be seen in Peta's footage as they respond by desperately chewing at their tethers and shaking their heads.

Taylor noted that a trainer cajoled people to touch the frightened birds, ignoring signs telling people not to touch the birds, adding "as experts will tell you, as well as being stressful for the owls, this also interferes with the natural oils in their feathers that keep them warm."

A tour spokeswoman said the owls' welfare is of paramount importance to them and they are exclusively handled by the experts at Birds and Animals, which owns and trains them.

A spokesman for Birds and Animals said that the welfare of their birds and animals is our number one priority and we take every measure to ensure they stay stress-free and healthy, adding that during their appearance at the studio tour the owls were given regular breaks, they were not exposed to any situations that would make them distressed and they were checked by a vet.