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Owl cocktail bar to open in London
Winston
Winston, one of the six owls at Soho's pop-up bar.

Profits to be donated to the Barn Owl Centre

An "owl cocktail bar" is set to open in Soho, London, for a week next month. Visitors will be able to drink two cocktails and spend two hours in the company of the owl pack.

The themed bar, called Annie the Owl, was inspired by Tokyo's owl cafes, where visitors can pay to look at, pet and even hold the resident owls. Japan is also well known for its cat cafes, which have inspired two similar establishments in the UK - Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium in London and Maison de Moggy in Scotland.

More than 2,000 people have already applied to attend Annie the Owl. As the bar will only be open from March 19-25, a ballot system has been introduced. Organisers will select a certain number of successful applicants, who will be able to attend the bar.

All profits will be donated to the Barn Owl Centre in Gloucestershire. Tickets are £20 per person, which includes two cocktails and two hours at the venue.

Organisers say they have taken all possible steps to ensure the welfare of the animals. Visitors will be served a maximum of two drinks and will be able to spend no more than two hours at the venue.

The six owls are from a professional falconry centre where they are used to being around members of the public. During the sit-down event, each owl will also be accompanied by a professional falconer.

Visitors will not be able to touch or come into close contact with the owls unless the professional falconers believe this is appropriate. An instruction pack explaining this will be sent to each attendee before the event.

According to organisers, efforts have been made to ensure noise and background music will be kept at a minimum and each owl will only have 10-12 people around them at a time.

Professional falconers have also been consulted to ensure the animals are provided with a suitable environment and housing with or apart from other animals, with an appropriate diet and water available.

The animals will be able to exhibit normal behaviour and events will run during the night. The professional falconers will also be on hand to protect the owls from discomfort or danger.

Image courtesy of Locappy



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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.