Further to the post below on Russell Burt blamelessly taking tame owls for a walk the Council leader in Plymouth, Cllr Vivien Pengelly posted a comment. It was a very good comment. She didn't blame her officers – although, of course, she could hardly have been consulted about the matter before hand. However she did make the crucial point that Mr Burt has only been given advice – "an informal chat." They did "not think he was breaking any type of law by taking his owl for a walk."
To conclude, Mr Burt has not been banned from anything and we would not consider it appropriate to do so.
This afternoon I rung Mr Burt. He had been under the impression that he had been banned but was delighted by the clarification.
He told me:
I am very pleased. I will start walking my owls to the park again on Monday. It is fine for the Council to give advice but I think I know more about the welfare of my owls than the Council's Dog Warden does.