Letter: Keep a sense of proportion over fox issue
Thursday 17th June 2010, 7:00AM BST.
Letter: I am not surprised Mr D Evans took advantage of all the tabloid coverage of the (alleged) fox which bit two young toddlers in a cot in their bedroom.
Mr Evans is a member of the pro-hunting brigade and would like to use this horrific incident to try and reverse the ban on fox hunting with hounds.
I have sympathy for the parents of the toddlers but I would never leave my door open at 10pm for it is an open invitation to human predators and burglars. Have we not learned anything from the McCann case?
How many children have been attacked by a fox in the last ten years and how many children have been savaged and killed by dogs which have often been family pets?
I love cats but they are predators for they have killed thousands of birds over the years. Would Mr Evans suggest we cull dogs and cats?
My little cross terrier was very docile and children often stroked him but I would never have left him alone with a small child. I have seen a photo of a four year old child feeding a fox. Why did the photographer allow that to happen?
Humans have built on some fox hunting grounds, and humans put food out in rubbish bags (chicken carcasses etc) which is a temptation for foxes and stray dogs – which often do more damage.
I never let my little dog (deceased) off the lead on the road but I have seen large dogs walking or running down the street with their owner on a bicycle!
We must keep a sense of proportion and if foxes need culling in certain urban areas then let’s do it humanely and remember humans are the worst predators and prey on and kill many forms of wild animals.
Ray Williams
Shifnal
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Well said, I have to completely agree with everything which Ray Williams has said.
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I second that. Great to see a reasonable letter in the Star for a change
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When I read the original article about how they had killed 4 foxes in regards to those kids getting bitten. I do feel sorry for the parents and the kids. But I feel more sorry for the foxes. It makes me ashamed to think that us as humans can carry out such an act. Its a fox why an earth was it allowed to get into the house and also how is it justified that 4 foxes were killer when in the first instant only fox was known to have attacked the children. And I don’t understand why the fox would have attacked the children in the first instance as generally as a run they will run off and stay out of sight of people. I was appalled at the actioned that was taken to kill the foxes and it should not have been done.
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Do not wish to enter the hunting debate due to the fact as it no loger happens, only in the minds of the paranoid anti.
As for urban foxes problem they should be and eventualy will be rounded up and put down as they are still on the list as vermin and we do not allow dogs to roam the streets do we??.
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I regularly see urban foxes. They receive no encouragement to be as bold as they are, but in an environment where they learn not to feel threatened, I can understand completely how they might enter human habitation. Grey squirrels are the same. What I find so deplorable about the Hunting debate is the astonishing attitudes of people like Ray and Deb who evidently still find more sympathy for the fox than the injured babies and readily blame the parents for leaving a door open into their own garden as if no-one in their right mind would. Ray even compares it to the Madeline McCann case. That’s just very sad. I don’t hate foxes, but they are wild animals and they can certainly pose a threat.
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On the same day as the fox attack, Telford police had to deal with 7 dog attacks. Since we don’t know which dog is going to attack next I think we should cull all dogs too….
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