The controversial American Hooter’s Chain, known for its rare and magnificent collection of highly trained owl waiters as much as for its American style beer and burgers, has opened a new branch in the Northern quarter of Manchester.
Demonstrations have been held outside the branch by animal lovers and activists since Monday.
“This kind of exploitation of wildlife is utterly unacceptable,” said a spokesperson for PETA. “You can’t dress owls up in dinner jackets and bow ties, and have them flying about the restaurant with giant pepper mills in their talons. They’re wild animals, not financially vulnerable young females. Making them perform in a choir, hooting popular swing tunes from the 1950’s as if they were wind-up owl toys is really not on,”
CEO Mike Pellet said:
“We’re not exploiting the owls. They enjoy getting dressed up in sparkly bow ties and doing loop-the-loops with a knife & fork in their beaks, while the customers gawp and try to touch their feathered breasts. That hardly ever happens by the way, and it’s very much frowned upon and stuff. And the owls don’t mind really. At least, I’ve never heard one complain about it.
“Our Owl shows, where we dress the owls up in various costumes and get them to perform tricks and hoot, while displaying their magnificent plumage to the crowd, are just harmless fun. After all, if they didn’t like it they would just fly off and live in the woods, or scratch your face off with their claws, or shit on you,”
When asked if Hooters objectified the owls at all, he responded:
“Well, a bit I supposed. But it’s not like everyone’s going to go out and find an owl, and order it to make them a pizza and pretend that the owl liked them staring at it. I suppose if they were humans it would be a little creepy, but they’re just owls, and they don’t really care about stuff like that,”