Justice for the Plympton too-woo


A bit off message this, but it sneaks in on the grounds of local interest. Always Hope has a soft spot for the traditional British eccentric, and so today we lament the case of the Plympton Owl Man:




We should note, in the interests of fairness, that Plymouth City Council hasn't actually banned Russell Burt from walking his owls because, er, they can't. But by intimidating this one man with the full weight of local government, they have effectively done so. What's particularly dispiriting are the given reasons for this sledgehammer-to-nut approach. "Owls live a nocturnal lifestyle" intones the council spokeswoman, demonstrating a grasp of Biology gained from the Ladybird Book of Nature. And, to cap the argument, she invokes the danger of "a large spooked bird of prey running amok on a highway", apparently confusing the Owl with a Road Runner.


Always Hope respectfully suggests to Plymouth City Council, in the unlikely event that they are listening, that this really is none of their business. Stick to collecting rubbish and other such useful functions, and let the good citizens of Plymouth practise their harmless eccentricities in peace. You'd probably get more votes that way, too.


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