Animal Sanctuary Saves Owl Covered in Concrete

The Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah had an October surprise when a great horned owl arrived covered in concrete. The owl had taken a tumble into a concrete mixer at a nearby construction site. Now, the sanctuary is working to help the owl regain the strength to fly again. >> The owl came to us through a phone call from the Department of Wildlife Resources who picked up the owl from someone who found it in a concrete mixer at a construction site. When we got the owl back to our rehab center, we we found that he was quite covered in in concrete, dried concrete. Um, and it was primarily on his right side, but for the most part, his entire body had some concrete uh within it. So, the long-term prognosis for this guy looks really good. We do need to wait until he molts and gets in healthier feathers so he can fly silently, but we expect that to happen late next spring, early summer. Once our owl friend recovers, we we anticipate taking him back to near where he was found, not on the construction site, but somewhere that is a natural habitat for him and and release him and let him be. >> While the owl arrived at best friend's doors at the end of October, the sanctuary is unsure of the circumstances that caused the owl to stumble into the mixture. The owl is believed to be a young male due to his size and is the first case of its kind the sanctuary had seen. The staff's first concern was ensuring the owl's airways were not blocked. After a handful of daily baths with Dawn dish soap, they removed the concrete completely from its body. Now the owl is continuing to recover in a flake avery. The great horned owl is a silent flyer which helps it hunt its prey, but the cleaning process frayed his feathers. The sanctuary will not release the owl into the wild until it sheds its current feathers, which is expected to happen around late spring or early summer of next year. Best Friends Animal Society cares for hundreds of animals at any given time, including dogs, cats, horses, goats, pigs, and bunnies, along with birds and wildlife.