Fox cull petition

[Alan Dale]

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/1761

[0017bond]

Just read it and whilst I thought it was a knee jerk reaction to the recent events with the toddler I do have to agree they don't seem to be scared of people as much anymore.

Seems like they grudgingly move out of your way at night only because their on their own. I has to be sorted at some point.

Hmmmmn. Let me set up a fur business just incase...

[DJKillaQueen]

Won't be signing it because dogs carry out more attacks on humans than foxes and humans carry out more attacks on humans than dogs. I might sign a petition to cull humans though.

[lilolil]

This petition closed last year though

[northlondoner]

Count me in. Where do I pick up my gun ?

[Sophiescarlett89]

There seems to be a witch hunt going on with foxes at the moment! It is absolutely ludicrous and a ploy to detract attention from more important issues our society is facing.

The recent incident with the four week old baby, as tragic as it was and i wish the poor boy a speedy recovery, had me quite bewildered and a few questions seemed unanswered. Why was a back door left open in the middle of winter, with a 4 week old baby in the first place? It could have just as easily been a paedophile who got in that day.

Also, the mother's account of what happened doesn't quite ring true in my opinion. The mother claims she wrestled with the animal for a couple of minutes. Yet she was uninjured? And surely the fox would not have fought with somebody twice, three times its size, for a "couple of minutes" it's most likely reaction would have been to flee.

Also, the animal apparently had the baby's hand lodged down it's throat; how was the finger recovered? AND how did the fox find it's way out of the home?

Im suprised this fox wasn't blamed for stealing the family car as well...

HOW many fox attacks have there been in the past decade? Literally a few, it is extremley rare; they try to avoid human contact at all costs usually. Yes, they do scavenge for food, but this problem could be prevented if the council collected rubbish more frequently.

Also, foxes should be feeding off rabbits in the countryside, but have been driven into the city by those snobby w*nkers hunting them on horses.

How many times have you seen a fox mauling someone, as a matter of interest? I had a family of foxes living out in my back garden for 20 years, and they were petrified of my Jack russel who was half the size of them.

I say more should be done about the dog fighting going on, stabbings, wannabe gangsters and nonses roaming our streets! Foxes DO NOT pose any threat to our community!

If a fox sees a door open and smells food, i guess it would put two and two together, and try it's luck; it is trying to survive, after all, like the rest of us are.

The moral of this story is take basic security precautions in your home! To protect from burgulars, paedophiles- oh, and of course, foxes.

:-)

[northlondoner]

Sophie you are clearly demented.

[Sophiescarlett89]

northlondoner, can you be a bit more specific? How am i demented? At which point did i state i'd "pick up a gun", like yourself? Do you care to elaborate?

I made a few valid points, unlike you... :-s

[dennis]

actually Sophie did make a few valid points ...

"protect from burgulars, paedophiles- oh, and of course, foxes."

I'll go get mi gun !

[stacker285]

I tend to agree with Sophie on this. It is a knee jerk reaction, and the press have not been reporting the correct facts in this case. I did have to laugh at a tv interview with a neighbour who reported seeing 25 foxes standing in the road one night.

Admittedly, I must admit that with regards to the family having the door open in winter, then I'm not sure that doing a fox check would be top of my list of safety concerns.

[DJKillaQueen]

I was just talking about this with my brother and he made the same points. He thinks it more likely that the pet of a friend or family member attacked the child than a fox.

[Sophiescarlett89]

Yes stacker285- that did make me laugh a bit too about the gang of 25 foxes in the road, reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". Haha :-)

[Sophiescarlett89]

DjKillaQueen- I reckon you are spot on- those were my thoughts exactly!!! A cover up for a dog attack, and not wanting to have the animal put down.

Another thing, how was the baby dragged from its cot, and didn't sustain any head injuries? Did anyone think about that? :-s

Edit*: Ok, i have just seen the picture of the baby with the scratches/ cuts to the face, so scrap that last comment about the head injuries.

[stacker285]

I think it's important to remember that the press are not printing facts about this case, and have been going by statements from relatives (which may be affected by stress, supposition,exaggeration etc), not the parents. And they are being paid considerably for their stories.

[lilolil]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4788764/Baby-had-finger-bitten-off-by-fox.html

[Sophiescarlett89]

I still am not willing to accept that foxes pose a huge danger to our society, the pictures of the baby are shocking, but the chances of this happening is INCREDIBLY rare. Boris Johnson describing them as a "Menace" is very melodramatic.

[dennis]

"more likely that the pet of a friend or family member attacked the child than a fox."

DJK .. what leads your brother to this conclusion ?

[DJKillaQueen]

I think he just feels that some aspects of the story don't make sense.

Personally I just think it's impossible to know, even if it was a fox, which fox did it. To then cull on mass is a disproportionate reaction.

[dennis]

I guess if the police are investigating it must be a simple task for science to differentiate between fox and dog.

I wouldn't discount the rogue fox theory. A friends (ED resident) infant was attacked by a fox in Fulham a few years ago.

In broad daylight walking down the footpath when the fox emerged from between cars and bit the childs leg.

The fox then went on to chase a jogger and elderly couple with a dog on a leash.

[Sophiescarlett89]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8726282.stm

"Foxes are among the most amenable, least aggressive mammals you could share your environment with," he said. "It's very rare for a fox to be brave enough to face a cat."

"I have only ever heard of two cases in my 40 years of dealing with foxes, one of which turned out to be a German Shepherd and the other a cat," he said.

[silverfox]

Have to say that far from Sophiescarlett89 being demented her post made perfect sense and was well argued.

I'm not necessarily pro-fox - they (urban foxes) are mangy critters scavaging on our discarded kebabs and chips and they would happily eat a plump young baby given half a chance, in the same way a rural fox will decimate a hen house, no matter what deluded RSPCA officials tell you.

However, the likelihood is small and objectively speaking we'd be better off getting rid of all dogs and cats which are responsible for consuming much needed food for humans and (particularly cats) killing our wildlife in the millions.

The real cull needs to start in your own homes

[Sophiescarlett89]

Thank you silverfox :-) Nice to know im not going completely insane!! :-)

[Alan Dale]

-- moved topic --

[firth]

I think for the safety of our society we need to cull the rats first, starting in the city perhaps !

[Atticus]

the recent incident has taken the real issue here off on a tangent. Urban foxes are a nuisance and a rapidly growing nuisance. Something has to be done, sharpish, cull or otherwise.

Plus, people/idiots feeding them are simply irresponsible.