Cruelty exposed at owl sanctuary

Owner Bruce Berry denies all the allegations in the programme.

A BBC South undercover investigation has exposed appalling conditions at a popular bird park.

Six weeks of undercover filming at The New Forest Owl Sanctuary at Ringwood in Hampshire revealed that birds were routinely mistreated and killed.

Chris Packham, presenter of the Inside Out South programme, which carried out the investigation, said: "As a bird lover, I was sickened by some of the secret filming.

"This is supposed to be a sanctuary, a safe haven, but we know that they have killed healthy birds."

Bruce Berry, owner of the sanctuary, denied all the allegations, and said that the sanctuary had recently passed its zoo inspection and that this negates some of the allegations.

However, former members of staff told the programme that unwanted or injured birds were regularly killed by knocking their heads against a hard surface.

Members of the public stroking rescued baby tawny owls.

"In the ten years I was there, hundreds of birds were knocked," said former sanctuary manager Chris Milsom.

"The owner used to say, get it done, take it out the back and knock it," he said.

Terry Garrard, who took over as manager after Mr Milsom, found out about the sanctuary's euthanasia policy on his third day.

He was told that two barn owls had been "knocked" on a concrete step because they had conjunctivitis.

"Conjunctivitis is an easily treatable condition," said Mr Garrard.

"I couldn't believe it was happening, so I confronted the owner. He said that's the way it has always been done."

The owner, Bruce Berry, denied that birds have ever been "knocked" at the sanctuary.

The sanctuary owner Mr Berry displaying a rescued baby tawny owl

He said that birds are always killed by lethal injection with drugs supplied by the vet.

But the BBC's secret filming showed that hawks and owls were still being killed in other ways.

One current member of staff admitted that he had shot injured birds with an air pistol.

Jemima Parry-Jones, chairman of the Zoo Forum - the body which advises the Government on standards in zoos - was shown the footage by the BBC.

"The whole attitude of these people is so wrong," she said.

"They shouldn't be working with birds at all.

"If any zoo inspector had seen the things that I have seen, then there is no way they would ever have passed a zoo inspection.

"It shouldn't be open to the public," she said.

The sanctuary was last inspected in November 2002, and Inspectors usually give at least seven day's warning of their arrival.

Viewers in the BBC South region can see the programme on BBC One at 1930 BST on Monday.

Viewers outside the region can view the programme online via RealPlayer by clicking the link below.

Inside Out