PORT ANGELES — CliniCare, as it prepares to shut down, stopped taking new patients about a month ago.
But it made an exception Friday for an owl found dangling from a power line outside the office, its feet caught in kite string.
David Kanters, owner and founder of the clinic at 621 E. Front St., said he found the barred owl that morning when he got to work.
It was already attracting less-than-friendly attention.
“The crows were bombarding it,” said Kanters, an advanced registered nurse practitioner.
After cutting the string, Kanters wrapped the bird in his jacket and took it into his office for a checkup.
The owl appeared to be fine, he said, except for two missing flight feathers.
Kanters, who used to train hawks, had no qualms about handling his new feathered friend.
Without hesitating, he allowed the owl to perch itself on his hand.
A former veterinary assistant, Kanters said he enjoys helping both people and animals.
“People, animals — they’re all the same,” he said.
“I don’t know if I’d call myself a do-gooder,” he added. “But I do have fun doing my thing, whatever that is.”
Kanters said he planned to take the owl home over the weekend, feed it some mice from his barn and take it to the Northwest Raptor Center in Sequim on Monday.
He said the center can give the owl a more thorough checkup before releasing it.
ClinicCare, Port Angeles’ only privately owned walk-in clinic, will close for good Friday. It has operated for 22 years.
The clinic had more than 12,000 patient visits per year, treating everything from colds to late-stage cancer.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.