“Jane Smith says ban horses from the public highway. Surely the best way to stop all accidents would be to ban people. on foot or in vehicles, from the highway!”

“I have worked with various birds of prey including many species of owl for twenty two years. In all that time not one owl ever attacked a member of the public, caused a vehicle accident or any other incident.
Firstly, owls are NOT strictly nocturnal and any domesticated owl will spend as much time awake during the daytime as it will during the night, even totally wild owls hunt during both day and night when they have chicks to feed.
I have seen some comments about their eyes being unable to stand daylight because they are tubular not round. Owls eye 'balls' are indeed tubular but this is absolutely nothing to do with their seeing abilities in low light! Their eyes are in fact biological binoculars with adjustable front lenses, unlike our own lenses which alter shape to focus, the owl is able to go one step beyond this and actually alter its sight magnification to 'zoom in' on its prey. In bright light its pupil simply dilates just as our own do to compensate.
As far as an owl being 'spooked' as the council seems to think, the owls ears are far more sensitive than our own in order to locate their prey in total darkness, unlike us however, they also come equipped with an inner mechanism which snaps a skin 'valve' shut if the ambient noise rises above a certain level in order to protect the delicate inner membranes. A sudden loud noise close by would startle us but not the owl! (Thunder for example)
It is high time that both the police and the local council stopped taking their lead from uninformed kill-joys who have nothing better to do than take out their frustrations on a defenceless man and his well loved and cared for birds who have done nothing but good for the local community for the last nine years!”

“Mr Burt and his owls brighten up a persons day. I love it if i see him out on the Ridgeway. His owls are happy,loved and well cared for. He has insurance for them and they are tethered to him and in the 9 years he has been walking them there have been no accidents or incidents.
The council should stop wasting time and money making themselves look like fools and retract this ban immediately. What will come next? Dogs and children who have no insurance and probably have caused accidents?
The person who complained should be ashamed for being such a misery and go and do something constructive with their life instead like joining Mr Burt in his fundraising events perhaps.”

“Mick,Barbican..........
SHUTUP.!!”

“Incidentally, why are some owls mostly white? Did evolution get it wrong by not making them jet-black for night camouflage?
I mean you never see a white bat..”

“This story made me so angry I almost turned my head right round. The council needs to wise up and stop acting like a bunch of twits, wasting time on such a barn-owl matter as this. This sort of thing should definitely be allowled, I think it's a real hoot to see such a talonted man out and about with his birds instead of just seeing them at official owl tawnyments. I may write to parliament about this. Owl always love you Mr Burt.”

“ban horses on public highways they are
more likely to cause the accidents. people who dogs and neglect looking after when they escape and run freely around the streets. If there had been any doubt that the welfare of these birds was in danger why has it taken 9
years to comment. PCC start you spending money on more advisors to deal with telephone calls so people can are not placed in a queue for over an hour and to prevent stress for those trying to sort out letters of threats u have sent them for delayed payments.
PCC u suck”

“@lazyoldfool mutley. prehaps we ban pets all together as buy your reasoning keeping any creature captave is wrong hmm”

“When the council came out here mob handed (proof that they are overstaffed) to reprimand this mindless hooligan in the name of public safety...they chose to ignore the fact that the pavements were blocked by illegally parked vehicles and bins left out 24/7.
As for the animal welfare issues...some of these birds are rescued after vehicle collisions...if not for this man they would be dead...
To the person who complained..is your life really that dull ?
Once again the council demonstrate their total lack of focus and priority. How about getting the pavements cleared before the schools reopen. Or do you consider children having to walk in the road safer than an unlikely attack by an owl ?
Beyond belief !!!”

“A bloke used to walk round the Barbican with a monkey on his shoulder but he tripped over a few months ago and it done a runner, it shows creatures don't like riding round on peoples shoulders..”