In April, Patient 26-224 arrived at the Ojai Raptor Center in California with internal injuries and a fractured foot bone.
It was a juvenile great horned owl. According to the center, someone rescued it from a group of teenagers who were beating it with a baseball bat. Veterinarians found internal trauma and a closed fracture of the metatarsal, and in July they published an X-ray of the injuries along with photos of its treatment.
Then came months of rehabilitation, rebuilding strength, and learning to trust its own wings again. In late September, five months after it arrived, it was released in Lancaster, California. Media outlets that covered the case reported that charges had been filed, but gave no further details about the young people or the attack.
“From a very difficult start to flying free again, this is exactly what wildlife rehabilitation is all about”, the center wrote when announcing the release, and thanked the person who stepped in that day. Its message to everyone was brief: If you see something, say something.