[Reader Steve Campbell, wrote in about this….]
I’m actually not sure, Steve, if this story in the Sun, about a fox climbing a high building, DOES represent a change in perception. I was wondering this myself. A fox celebrated as a kind of little hero? … a celebrity … ?
But then I read the article more carefully, and I noticed it said that the fox was ‘rescued’ by – not the RSPCA – but … by “Pest Control”.
And suddenly my blood went cold. How could this lovely, intelligent, fascinating creature, lost in a strange world, be in any way called a ‘pest’ … vermin? Even the present, very animal-unfriendly DEFRA does not class foxes as vermin. Yet this lovely animal was being removed like some kind of infestation of fungus? The picture was of the unfortunate creature in a cage. What happened then? If anyone out there knows where the little chap was taken, I’d love to know, please.
I have a terrible suspicion that the story has a horrible ending. I hope I am wrong. This comes at a time when the National Geographic magazine carries an article which asks the question whether foxes might make the very best pets … Man’s real best friend … and there is lot of evidence that they can be the most intelligent and rewarding pets of all. Now I’m not advocating the ‘taming’ of wild animals at all … but it does make it so obvious that to treat these creatures as less than precious is a moral crime. Things have to change.
Just like slavery … the old ways must fall.
Foxes, and all feeling creatures, must be freed. And free from persecution.
Bri