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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 17 hours 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 After a cat café and a cereal bar, the idea behind the latest novelty eaterie appeared to be simple: drinking cocktails and eating good food in the company of owls. But the owner of the new venue due to open today has revealed the venture has made his life "hell" due to bad work by journalists and misunderstandings from animal rights campaigners.
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 organised the Annie the Owl pop-up event in which a temporary smoothie bar is set up in central London with six owls on view to the customers.
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. Unlike the owl and cat cafés that have caused such a stir in Japan, however, patrons will not be allowed to pet the animals. Nevertheless, Mr Lyall said animal rights activists and press reports have made the assumption the owls would be touched or stroked.
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. In Japan close contact with animals is a novelty for those denied the opportunity of owning a pet because they live in apartments where they are barred. The first cat café was opened there in 2005 with owl cafés following in 2012. Customers are free to stroke and hold cats, rabbits and, to a lesser extent,owls.
“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. But in Britain animal rights groups have expressed anger at the concept of an owl café and have formed a protest Facebook event and a petition which currently has more than 29,000 signatures.
“The news sites copied each other and had a bias without confirming anything with me. A journalist is meant to contact for comment.” Mr Lyall is now expecting a protest on Friday when the pop-up Annie the Owl event gets underway and has brought in extra security, and contacted police to warn them of his fears.
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. "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," he said.
The event has since been forced to postpone, strike alcohol from the event and change location due to public pressure. Mr Lyall said guests were never told they would be able to touch the owls but since the event was first announced it has since been forced to postpone, strike alcohol from the event and change location due to public pressure. The charity that was formerly benefitting from the event has also withdrawn from association, and a new owl sanctuary, which wishes to remain unnamed, will now benefit from the event with a contribution 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," said Mr Lyall.
“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.” Seb Lyall says he will now ‘not make a penny’ from the event "We'll have security. We've notified the police, the ambulance service, everything. We're prepared as we know of a planned protest, protesting something they don't know anything about.
Mr Lyall says he expects a protest at his event, which will begin this Friday, catering to 75 people per sitting. "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’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. He said he will lose money by staging the event, regardless of the publicity, due to its small size. More than 60,000 people applied for 1,300 tickets.
“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.” "The ticket sales make only £15,000, 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," he said.
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 says he has had to bail out the event with sponsorship from other ventures.
“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.
“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.