Pet shop owners: Who's buying owls?
Who knew that the dwindling population of owls in India would be attributed to the snowy pet of a famous English fictional character? " Harry Potter" is in the news, but for a rather unusual reason - apparently, environment minister Jairam Ramesh has a take on the films based on JK Rowling's books on the boy wizard. He thinks they're making the Indian middle class obsessed with keeping owls as pets for their children, leading to a decline in their population.
But are pet shop owners selling any owls to these "Potter" obsessed middle class pet lovers? Vikas Sharma from Dr Sharma's Pet Clinic in Moti Bagh states, "I have never encountered such a request (for owls as pets). No one's ever made such a demand." Kaushik from Unique Pet Shop in Saket adds, "No, no one buys owls and there's never been a demand for them. It's definitely not a "Harry Potter" trend."
In fact, pet shops and pet owners alike have been slightly surprised by these charges of heartless "Potter"-inspired domestication of owls. Sudhir Sharma of Ideal Pets expresses disbelief at the statement. "We do sell birds, but never in the history of the store have I sold owls, neither has there been a request for the birds," he says, sounding puzzled, when asked about the issue. Read the full report here.
Source: Times of India.
