As grubby muggle children clamor to the local pet store, hoping to get their hands on "magical" "pet" owls, JK Rowling issues her fans a stern warning:

"If anybody has been influenced by my books to think an owl would be happiest shut in a small cage and kept in a house, I would like to take this opportunity to say as forcefully as I can: YOU ARE WRONG.

"The owls in Harry Potter books were never intended to portray the true behaviour or preferences of real owls."

According to an expert quoted in the Sun, UK pet stores sell owls for as cheap as £30. The source added: "It was a similar situation with kestrels when the film Kes came out and with tropical fish on the back of Finding Nemo." But, while we easily accept the deaths of fish, "owls take a lot of looking after."

Further Reading:

"Harry Potter Owl Scenes Alarm Animal Advocates," National Geographic

"Harry Potter Craze 'Putting Owls at Risk,' " The Scotsman