When reports of a "distressed" owl left tied tree all night came in to the Scottish SPCA, the charity organization made a rescue attempt, only to discover that the owl in question was actually made of plastic and meant to be a lawn or garden ornament.
"I had a feeling as soon as I approached the property that something wasn't quite right," Chief Inspector John Carle told the Scottish SPCA. "The front garden contained a number of ornaments and decorative features and when I spoke to the occupant she took me to the rear of the house where the owl in question was being stored."
Not only was the call about the owl made to the SPCA anonymously, it was clearly not real upon first sight, according to Carle, leading him to be "more inclined to think that the call may have been made as a prank."
Whether the call about the owl in distress was a prank or a genuine act of concern, it certainly wasn't the first time the SPCA has received such a phone call.
"We occasionally receive call-outs of this nature from individuals with genuine concerns for animals, only to find that the animal in question is a toy or an ornament," Carle said. "Last year one of our animal rescue officers was called after a resident found a snake in her loft. It turned out that the snake was in fact part of a fancy dress costume left there by a previous tenant. We also had an instance where we were called to rescue a baby alligator from a roundabout, which was in fact a plastic toy. In both cases the callers were mortified and genuinely believed the animals they'd seen were real."
Staff at the Scottish SPCA said that it was possible the call could have been made by a "well-meaning but short-sighted" neighbor just as much as it could have been a malicious prank meant to waste their time.
"We do tend to have a giggle about this sort of thing, particularly as our job investigating cruelty and rescuing abandoned and neglected animals is normally quite stressful and often upsetting. On a serious note, we are receiving a huge volume of call-outs every day, so prank calls of any kind not only waste our time and our supporters' donations but could delay us in reaching an animal that desperately needs our help," Carle added.
Carle also found similar garden ornaments at the property in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Do you think the plastic owl looks lifelike enough to warrant suspicion? Share your opinion in the comments below!
