Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Ken Lockwood from Eagle Valley Raptor Center near Cheney works carefully to free a great horned owl.

As KAKE intern Lacy Summerville holds the bird's legs, Lockwood carefully clips the feathers that are caught in this barbed wire fence in Reno County.

"You can see he'd been hanging here in torture. There's feathers and muscle all kinds of things. He'd die a slow torturous death," said Lockwood.

Lockwood is one of just a few who take in injured animals, and this year he has been busy.

The Hutchinson Zoo got the call about the owl first, but with just seven staff members and hundreds of animals in the rehab center, they couldn't help.

Right now, Kiley Buggeln is taking care of eight baby deer. One was brought in last night after its mama was hit by a combine.

"It's a year of lots of deer, high birth rates," said Buggeln.

She has everything from birds, to ducks. From skunks to opossums. The most she's ever had in one year is 650 animals. She expects this year will top that.

"This is a valuable public service. We are one of the few that still does it and takes in the animals," said Buggeln.

In the meantime, Lockwood will take the owl back to his rehab center and try to nurse it back to health.

Both programs are run by donations. You can find out more by going to these websites: