The guy holding the owl in the photo is the rescuer, not the “depositer!” He says he’s running into too many people not reading the article and think he did it.

From Times LIVE - South Africa

24 April 2024

Customers and staff at an Absa branch in Gauteng were dumbstruck when a customer tried to open a bank account using a live barn owl as a deposit.

The unlucky predator’s luck changed when the man was told the bank could only accept legal tender, and his feathered friend was whisked to safety after intervention by the Owl Rescue Centre.

Absa confirmed the unusual request was made last Wednesday at a branch in Westonaria.

“As a trusted banking partner servicing customers from all walks of life over many years, we are committed to supporting our customers even when it comes to unusual life situations because every story matters,” said a spokesperson.

“We can confirm a customer approached our Westonaria branch on April 24 wanting to open a bank account and offering a live owl as a deposit. Given that we are a financial institution, and we only accept legal tender as deposits, we were unable to assist the customer, and cannot comment on the customer’s rationale for his approach.”

They immediately reached out for help.

“Our branch colleagues enlisted the assistance of the Owl Rescue Centre and saved the life of a beautiful owl because owl stories matter too,” the spokesperson said.

Absa had more good news for bird lovers.

“While we don’t accept animals, or livestock, as deposits, we are thrilled to announce Birdlife South Africa will soon be one of our Absa Rewards beneficiaries to which customers can donate through our free Absa Rewards programme.”

We interrupt this newscast for the following addendum:

😧😠😮‍💨

Back to our story!

Hartbeespoort Dam-based animal rescuer Brendan Murray said: “We have had stranger rescues and more difficult ones. My wife Danelle started Owl Rescue in Harties about 15 years ago. Since then almost not a day has gone by without us being called out to rescue some sort of animal.”

He was alerted to the owl’s predicament.

“I immediately rushed over and we saved another one of our animal friends.”

Murray believes the man originally wanted to sell the owl.

“He first went to a muti shop close to the bank but the owner said they don’t buy live animals. From there, he went to the bank.

“There seem to be a lot of people who believe it is OK to catch wild animals and sell them to businesses. We were called a while back by a pawnshop in Hillbrow. When I arrived there was an owl sitting at the entrance in a gilded cage from the 1980s.”

They recently helped relocate an owl from Saudi Arabia to an animal rehab centre in Turkey.

“We did the organising and managed all the EFT payments and everything without leaving South Africa.””

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    7 months ago

    Damn. that’s cold. Maybe the bank should… like you know, add the Centre too.

    I mean, they did take an owl off your hands.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      14·
      7 months ago

      Should have at least covered the gas. I looked it up and it’s a 90 min, 60 mile/100 km drive.

      They’re bankers so they should know stuff isn’t free …

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
        8·
        7 months ago

        if I were the center…I’d send a bill.

        make it as generic as possible. “care of” accounting.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      8·
      7 months ago

      Ooo they do have some nice stuff. The Art Deco Owl Necklace looks pretty nice IMO.

      I typically will cut out the parts about donations when I make posts, because I don’t want it to come across as me trying to shake you guys down for cash or guilt anybody into doing something. I’m here mainly to bring you a smile and some educational stuff. I’ll occasionally throw it out there that none of these places that do animal rescue receives public money, which is a shame since so many things that hurt animals do receive your tax money…but I digress.

      I also don’t want to plug one rescue over another. There is one likely not too far from where you are, and I’ll always encourage you to support your local animals. The smaller the facility, the less resources they’ll have available, so they all need our support. For the Owl of the Year, I made a donation in c/Superbowl’s name, and the winner, White Faced Scops, to my local owl rehabber. I’ve been to their open house twice and they look to do a very good job, not just with owls, but all types of local wildlife.

      Most of these places will have online stores with merch or Amazon wishlists you can send them stuff, and of course with cash they can buy whatever it is they need. Most of it will be cleaning supplies, paper towel, bedding, etc. Follow a few of my links to the sources and you can see. Maybe I can work on a list of non-Facebook links as well since I know many Lemmings have a strong aversion to it.

      This is another thing that I always look for your feedback to. If you guys want donation links or for me to see what rescues are in your area, don’t be afraid to let me know. I’m here to do what is useful and fun for you guys.

  • JetpackJackson@feddit.de
    7·
    7 months ago

    Kind of a tangent, but I saw this, and thought, “oh I should send this to anon6789 somehow or post it on superbowl…” Then I looked at where this was and who posted it lmao! Very interesting story, I’m glad the owl was able to be rescued.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      8·
      7 months ago

      I saw it a few days ago, and I save things I think will get more attention for the weekends, and I was so nervous someone would beat me to sharing this one!

      If any of you ever see anything interesting though, feel free to share it here or send me a link. I don’t have the exclusive rights to owl stories or anything. I’m always curious to see what things you guys find interesting as well.

  • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    7 months ago

    Never mind the Owl Rescue Center; did they pay the customer fair market value for the owl? They stole that poor man’s owl, didn’t they?

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      7·
      7 months ago

      I wasn’t able to find any conclusive on if it is legal to possess an owl in South Africa, but if I were to wager, I’d say this guy was probably not supposed to have it to begin with. In that case, if he just left without being fined or arrested, then he indeed came out ahead of where he started. The man and owl are not both likely in better positions than they were.

      The bankers were probably able to distract him with some free pens or other bank branded novelties, so he may have gotten something tangible of some monetary value for his time and effort.

  • Chetzemoka@lemmy.world
    5·
    7 months ago

    Ok, I know some country folks, and I can picture trying to deposit a chicken or maybe even a cow. But what on earth possessed this person to think an owl had financial value lol?

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      7 months ago

      Maybe it was one of those challenges where you start with something worthless like a paperclip and keep trading up until you have something valuable?