--- description: PETA has accused 'The Making of Harry Potter' tour of mis-treating owls title: 'Harry Potter' Owls Mistreated, Animal Cruelty Group Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Britain](/tag/britain/) ## Britain Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Harry Potter_ Owls Mistreated, Animal Cruelty Group Says by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2015 2:20 PM CUT by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 23, 2015 2:20 PM CUT The successful Warner Bros studio tour of ‘The Making of Harry Potter’ has come under fire for its treatment of animals. The Harry Potter attraction at Warner Bros Studio Tour London opened in 2012 and allows fans to tour the sets, sample Butterbeer and meet animals from the franchise, including Harry’s owl. Animal rights group PETA has accused the tour of mistreating the owls that appear on the tour. After [secretly filming the tour](http://action.peta.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=5&ea.campaign.id=36670 "undefined"), PETA has accused the tour operators of keeping the “distressed birds… tethered in tiny cages for hours and forced to perform tricks.” ### Harry Potter Illustrated Edition Illustrations  Harry Potter Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hermione Granger Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Ron Weasley Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Draco Malfoy Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Rubeus Hagrid Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hogwarts Grand Hall Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Dragon Alley Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Hagrid Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  Harry Potter Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  An owl Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.  The Golden Snitch Jim Kay—Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. “Confining frightened owls to tiny cages where they can only chew at their tethers in frustration goes against every message of respect and kindness that J.K. Rowling’s wonderful books taught us,” PETA director Mimi Bekhechi [told the BBC.](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32010842 "undefined") Warner Bros Studio Tour London told the BBC, “It is essential the welfare of the birds… is of the highest standard.” They also said that they had asked the company that owns the birds, Birds and Animals, to “review this matter.” Meanwhile a spokesperson for Birds and Animals told the BBC, “The owls are always given regular breaks and closely monitored by a vet. Now that we have had the opportunity to see the footage, we have instigated a review of the issues raised.” They added: “We will take appropriate action to ensure that the birds and animals always receive the very best care.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32010842 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/"},"headline":"Harry Potter Owls Mistreated, Animal Cruelty Group Says","datePublished":"2015-03-23T14:20:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:56.163Z","description":"PETA has accused 'The Making of Harry Potter' tour of mis-treating owls","url":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/","keywords":["Britain","Crime","animals","Harry Potter","U.K.","World","Animal Rights","uk","Movie"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/britain/","name":"Britain"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/","name":"Harry Potter Owls Mistreated, Animal Cruelty Group Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces","description":"Steven James Snyder, Techland's resident movie geek, outlines the top 5 most under-rated sci-fi movies of all time","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xe99vdU4/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2010-01-11T22:26:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xe99vdU4.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/","duration":"PT4M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3754005/harry-potter-owls-cruelty/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```