Great horned owl found tied in a bag triggers Michigan animal cruelty investigation

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. – Wildlife rehabilitators are trying to save the life of a great horned owl found tied up inside an empty seed bag and left on the side of a West Michigan road.

Conservation officers with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are investigating possible animal cruelty of the wild raptor, which was found Dec. 6 in South Haven Township. The female owl was reportedly discovered tied inside a bag, with a plastic zip tie fastened around one ankle so tightly it restricted blood circulation.

“The bag was thrown in the ditch of someone’s front yard, and when they went to remove the seed bag, they found the owl inside,” said John Pepin, DNR spokesperson. “The individual drove the owl up to the rehabber who reported it in case we have had or do have any more issues like this.”

Wildlife rehabilitators at West Michigan Wildlife Center in Grand Rapids were the first to care for the wounded owl, treating the bird with fluids, pain medication, foot soaks and by carefully removing the zip tie with wire cutters normally used to remove fishing lures from turtles. A veterinarian also discovered that the owl is blind in one eye but couldn’t determine the cause.

“I’ve seen weird things. I’ve seen possums with arrows through them. I’ve seen some animals put into small boxes for different reasons. But I’ve never seen a raptor hog tied. That’s very unusual,” said Allyson Swanson, the center’s founder and director.

The owl has since been transferred to the Wildside Rehabilitation and Education Center in Eaton Rapids for long-term care. The founder and director of Wildside said the owl is receiving around-the-clock medical care, but the bird’s prognosis remains guarded.

“Her foot is extremely swollen, and my fear is that it may be the beginning of gangrene. The infection smells bad, so she’s on pretty strong antibiotics, and we’re doing foot soaks and ankle soaks every day. She’s on strong pain medication also,” said Louise Sagaert, who has been a licensed wildlife rehabilitator for 30 years.

She said this isn’t the first time she’s seen wild raptors treated cruelly by humans, but this case is particularly upsetting. She suspected someone had been illegally keeping the owl in captivity and abandoned it when the bird’s wounds caused swelling and infection.

“My sense is that they probably had this bird as a young bird, they put the zip tie around her ankle, just to show that it was theirs in case she got away or whatever. And then they never did anything to it. They never took it off. They never made it bigger. It got tightened or she pulled on it, and it got tighter,” Sagaert said. “And then it grew into her leg to the point where it was strangulating her foot.”

She confirmed that at this time blood is circulating in the owl’s swollen foot, and the bird has some ability to move its toes. “That is a huge positive for her. If we couldn’t get any movement out of it, I would say it was a lost cause,” Sagaert said.

The owl doesn’t have any broken bones and is being fed by hand at the wildlife rehab center. If the bird’s wounded foot doesn’t heal, she will be euthanized according to federal wildlife regulations.

Sagaert said even if the female owl’s wounds fully heal, she wouldn’t be released into the wild. Instead, the owl would be permanently housed at another nature center as an ambassador bird, used for educational programs to teach the public about Michigan wildlife.

First, the owl must survive, though. Right now, the bird isn’t behaving like a typical predator bird and seems to have a broken spirit, Sagaert said.

“You just look at this bird, and she is defeated. It’s very, very sad. You look at her, and she just lies in your arms. She doesn’t really try to get away, she doesn’t really try to move, she doesn’t really try to grab you,” she said. “She just kind of looks at you, like, ‘What are you going to do to me?’”

“What did an owl do to deserve this? I don’t get it,” Sagaert said, her voice breaking.

Officials reported that someone had cut “air holes” into the empty 50-pound bag of whole corn kernels where the owl was discovered. The empty grain bag was from Producer’s Pride, which is a brand of cattle, sheep and goat feed commonly sold at retailers like Walmart and Tractor Supply.

Officials said there were no witnesses or cameras recording in the area where the bird was found. DNR investigators don’t currently have any leads into who may have harmed the raptor, Pepin confirmed.

However, he said anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Michigan’s Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800 or submit a report online.

Meanwhile, the Wildside Rehabilitation and Education Center is accepting donations to help cover the costs of long-term care for this wounded owl, as well as other sick and injured animals, including turtles, small mammals, and other raptor species like American kestrels, barred owls, screech owls and turkey vultures.

Similarly, the first nonprofit to treat the injured owl, the Wildside Rehabilitation and Education Center, is also accepting donations for its work with wild animals as well as to secure a permanent facility in Grand Rapids.

Great horned owl found tied in a bag triggers Michigan animal cruelty investigation

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