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| Annie the Owl organiser's life 'made hell' by misconstrued event | Annie the Owl organiser's life 'made hell' by misconstrued event |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The founder of a pop-up owl event that has attracted over 29,000 signatures in a protest petition says his life has been hell after his event was misconstrued by the press and animal rights activists | The founder of a pop-up owl event that has attracted over 29,000 signatures in a protest petition says his life has been hell after his event was misconstrued by the press and animal rights activists |
| Seb Lyall, organiser of Annie the Owl, says he envisaged an educational event and that it was never marketed as an owl café. | Seb Lyall, organiser of Annie the Owl, says he envisaged an educational event and that it was never marketed as an owl café. |
| Mr Lyall says that a news website compared the pop-up event to a Japanese owl café (which allows visitors to touch the perching birds of prey) and that other outlets have since taken it as fact without seeking his comment or verification. | Mr Lyall says that a news website compared the pop-up event to a Japanese owl café (which allows visitors to touch the perching birds of prey) and that other outlets have since taken it as fact without seeking his comment or verification. |
| Animal rights groups have expressed anger at the notion of an owl café and have formed a protest Facebook event and a petition which currently has more than 29,000 signatures. | Animal rights groups have expressed anger at the notion of an owl café and have formed a protest Facebook event and a petition which currently has more than 29,000 signatures. |
| “It’s made my life hell, It’s been personal, my name is everywhere. I get calls and I don’t want to give my address away. | “It’s made my life hell, It’s been personal, my name is everywhere. I get calls and I don’t want to give my address away. |
| “The news sites copied each other and had a bias without confirming anything with me. A journalist is meant to contact for comment.” | “The news sites copied each other and had a bias without confirming anything with me. A journalist is meant to contact for comment.” |
| Seb Lyall says he will now ‘not make a penny’ from the event Annie the Owl says it has never promised guests that they would be able to touch the owls, and the event only described a seated show of the birds of prey at rest, with canapés and beverages. | Seb Lyall says he will now ‘not make a penny’ from the event Annie the Owl says it has never promised guests that they would be able to touch the owls, and the event only described a seated show of the birds of prey at rest, with canapés and beverages. |
| The event has since been forced to postpone, strike alcohol from the event and change location due to public pressure. | The event has since been forced to postpone, strike alcohol from the event and change location due to public pressure. |
| The charity that was formerly benefiting from the event has also withdrawn from association with it, and a new owl sanctuary, which wishes to remain unnamed, will now benefit from the event to fund a disability ramp. | The charity that was formerly benefiting from the event has also withdrawn from association with it, and a new owl sanctuary, which wishes to remain unnamed, will now benefit from the event to fund a disability ramp. |
| “No promises were made to the guests that they would be able to touch the owls – the only promise was that you could see the owls, seated, with a drink. Now it’s a smoothie, because alcohol was controversial.” | “No promises were made to the guests that they would be able to touch the owls – the only promise was that you could see the owls, seated, with a drink. Now it’s a smoothie, because alcohol was controversial.” |
| Mr Lyall says he expects a protest at his event, which will begin this Friday, catering to 75 people per sitting. | Mr Lyall says he expects a protest at his event, which will begin this Friday, catering to 75 people per sitting. |
| “We’ll have security. We’ve notified the police, the ambulance service, everything. We’re prepared as we know of a planned protest, protesting at something they don’t know anything about. | “We’ll have security. We’ve notified the police, the ambulance service, everything. We’re prepared as we know of a planned protest, protesting at something they don’t know anything about. |
| “We made mistakes, we initially were going to serve two cocktails, thinking two cocktails wouldn’t get anyone drunk or cause any trouble. People then thought it was going to be a pub or a club, which is of course not what the event is.” | “We made mistakes, we initially were going to serve two cocktails, thinking two cocktails wouldn’t get anyone drunk or cause any trouble. People then thought it was going to be a pub or a club, which is of course not what the event is.” |
| Mr Lyall also says that he will be making a personal loss on the event, regardless of the publicity, due to the small scale of the event. | Mr Lyall also says that he will be making a personal loss on the event, regardless of the publicity, due to the small scale of the event. |
| “The ticket sales make only £15,000 of revenue, the venue cost £6,000, the owls cost £6,000. That is £12,000 gone before you take into account the food, the staff, the logistics, everything.” | |
| Mr Lyall says that he has had to bail out the event with sponsorship from other ventures. | Mr Lyall says that he has had to bail out the event with sponsorship from other ventures. |
| “Locappy, my app and a chocolate company have helped us out. Cash. We’ve worked so hard for this event and it’s had such a big hype and scandal and we’re not making a penny.” | “Locappy, my app and a chocolate company have helped us out. Cash. We’ve worked so hard for this event and it’s had such a big hype and scandal and we’re not making a penny.” |
| More than 100,000 people applied for tickets to Annie the Owl, causing the ticketing website to crash. Mr Lyall has said he has no plans to extend the event or set up a permanent location, due to the negative experience. | More than 100,000 people applied for tickets to Annie the Owl, causing the ticketing website to crash. Mr Lyall has said he has no plans to extend the event or set up a permanent location, due to the negative experience. |