Meet Dave!

Dave, the tawny owl, arrived at the Rescue from a vets, after being found with concussion. He'd been found at the side of the road near Barnoldswick and dropped off there. When we took him in, he was very weak, unable to eat for himself or stand and had to be tube fed for a while. After a few days he started eating chopped bits of meat, hand-fed to him and he managed to stand up straight. We were delighted to see his progression - over a few weeks he was doing really well and eating normally.

We were starting to think about his release when we noticed one of his eyes was duller than the other. Jane and Penny (the co-founders of the Rescue) shone a light in it and realised the eye was dying, which does happen occasionally with head injuries. The eyeball was starting to shrivel and it needed action. So they made the decision to approach Ashlands vets in Skipton to see if they would operate. They are very supportive of us, and work under the same ethics.

It is always difficult to decide to operate on a wild animal, but we knew that, with Dave, we were preventing him having to deal with the onset of disease. We also know, from our knowledge and that of other agencies working in this field, that owls can manage with one eye, as they hunt with their ears. Ashlands agreed to do the operation - which was great news, especially for Dave!

Ashlands made a wonderful job of it. He returned to the Rescue a bit woozy and we gave him pain relief, but he soon recovered. His visible stitches then slowly disintegrated.

He is doing so, so well. We are now waiting for the moment when he will go back into the wild and hunt for himself. It's such a privilege to have helped him and know he will be able to do that.