Illegal Hunting With Dogs in Manchester

 

This is nothing new, sadly. A while back we had, in Bristol, a man who set his dog onto a fox and watched it fatally injure the fox. For 'fun'.  In the 1990s we had cases in Birmingham parks where gangs were baiting foxes and using dogs to kill them.

If you get into wildlife work you have to understand that you are in a war. An ongoing war where animal cruelty is 'sport' for some very sick people.

After decades this neither shocks or surprises me.

'Illegal hunting with dogs' fears after foxes found dead across Greater Manchester

Manchester Evening News https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/illegal-hunting-with-dogs-fears-31098438?fbclid=IwY2xjawIu98JleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHThX0oDdzmULPiWFJbxHbxhSpr6jYMViZZ3hEKQ0k6Cy7mw923Gk9COHdw_aem_0E2tJXtnVybnx2HsoU17Hg

The RSPCA has launched an investigation and is appealing for information after the bodies of six foxes were found in seperate locations in Greater Manchester.

The national animal welfare charity says it believes the foxes were killed by illegal hunting with dogs.

Their bodies were found in seperate areas.

Two of the foxes were found at Baileys Wood in Blackley, near Boggart Hole Clough in north Manchester, on February 10, with a further four discovered at a site in Radcliffe, near Bury, on February 14.

The RSPCA was contacted after the second find. The charity says it is investigating and called the organised hunting of wild animals using dogs 'a growing problem' nationally.

A spokesperson said: "The discovery of six foxes dumped in two separate locations in Greater Manchester has triggered an appeal for information from the RSPCA.

"The charity fears the animals may have been killed under suspicious circumstances."

RSPCA Inspector Deborah Beats said: "We fear that these poor foxes were deliberately killed - possibly using dogs

"Sadly, the persecution of wildlife and the organised hunting of wild animals using dogs is a growing problem - and certainly this is something we cannot rule out here. Hunting with dogs is illegal and so we are appealing for anyone with firsthand information about these foxes to get in touch with our appeal line on 0300 123 8018, quoting reference numbers 1450712 and 1450752.”

The RSPCA said both it and other agencies were 'dealing with worrying amounts of wildlife crime'.

Saxony-Anhalt To Start Wolf Killing?

 

My stance on introducing species to countries where humans had previously wiped them out changed years ago.

While the US continues slaughtering high numbers of coyotes and wolves along with foxes for 'fun' they still move wolves to areas where there are none to "enrich the environment" and then..."blast away boys!"

Europe has moved along that pathway and is continuing to slaughter wolves Norway being the greatest offender) but now the "Wolves are welcome here -this is not France" Germany is literally itching to get the shooting started.

There are currently 32 packs and five pairs living in Saxony-Anhalt, in Germany. And guess what? They want to "lessen" the protection of wolves so farmers can have 'fun;'  If Saxony-Anhalt does this them other German states will follow and we'll end up with endangered wolves.

Wolves were killed to extinction in Germany in the 1850s.

Too Much Money in Promoting Dogma

 I was asked if I had sent copies of the two Red Papers 2022 to more famous naturalists to try and get their support. Others suggested that I do so.

David Attenborough and Attenborough Productions received two copies of each book (delivery confirmed). Despite polite emails they have refused to respond over a two year period.

Chris Packham.....no responses.

Brian May -he has had health issues so I do not expect him to come rushing!

In fact, whether a person or establishment not a single response to copies of the books. Sadly, there is far more money in continuing dogma than in setting historical wildlife history straight.

A European Old Fox Type (it is NOT a Red Fox)

 

An auctioneer labelled this as a late 19th century "European Red Fox" probably because it is a fox and "All foxes are red foxes" -right? I think that the "late 19th century" date may just be a guess but there are no black markings visible on the face or "black socks".  The odd colouration is typical of the Old foxes found in the UK before their 1860s extinction through hunting.

The fox has a characteristic head of an Mountain fox and similar to the famous Colquhoun fox and a couple others we have. 

The back of the case has been repaired and has the stamp "Product of Czechi" the Czech Republic formed in 1992.

We know of an Old type fox (possibly a Cur or Common fox)  in the Netherlands that was sent there as a hunting trophy of 1848 but that was clearly labelled. Provenance with such specimens is everything.  We know that British hunts imported the last of the Old foxes from Norway so probably helped kill them off there.  Czechia in the late 19th century would still have wild areas and it is possible that some of the Old type foxes continued on there and in other central European countries.

If we assume that this was an Old type fox shot in the late 19th century then it is an example of the Old European fox -which would have roamed Ireland, Britain and Europe until the flooding of Doggerland separated Britain and Ireland from Europe.  

That a fox specimen like this was found in Europe gives some hope that there are other examples yet to be found -but not by those claiming to be "experts£ in red foxes and who will not listen to anything but 20th century dogma.

How Much Wildlife Can One City Kill And Not Care About?

 I have just completed a 59pp document that combines the 2022-(Feb) 2025 Fox and Badger deaths registers. It is grim reading.

Well over 600 foxes and over 150 badgers and, as I keep saying, these are only the reported deaths. You could probably double both totals.

In the last week Sarah Mills (Bristol Wildlife Rescue) had call outs to three RTA vixens who were aborting still born cubs.  There was also a heavily pregnant sow boar.

The persistence of local authorities to not put in place road under./overpasses for wildlife or speed bumps on the worse roads (where evening and night time "racers" kill a lot of wildlife) really shows the lack of intertest and concern.  "We have no budget for this" is always the response while always calling out what "champions for the environment and re-wilding" they are.

It has to change because we are losing too much wildlife -foxes, badgers, deer, otters, hedgehogs and more.

What Was The Diet of the Mountain Fox?

I would GUESS that a pair of Old British foxes would look after young until dispersal but that sort of thing was never noted in anything other than New foxes.

Prey would have been the usual: mountain hares have been present in the UK for a very long time and in Devon and the Thames Valley areas bones were found and dated as between 114,000 and 131,000 years old.

Mountain Hare (c) By H. Zell - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8448452

Brown hares (Lepus europaeus) it is thought were likely introduced to the UK in the Iron Age or Roman times. However, it would be impossible to tell for sure since we know that trade ships from many countries visited the UK regularly and while exotic animals given as gifts such as domesticated North African wild cats and even "Barbary apes", there is no reason why hare or even rabbits might not have been traded.

Brown hare (c) the Mammal Society

Officially (which means that no one knows for sure but some academic decided "this is when" and so it was accepted for convenience) rabbits were not introduced to the UK until after the Norman Conquest in the 12th century. However, very few people know that rabbits were brought here during the Iron Age after the Roman conquest (AD 43-84) which means that rather than 1000+ years rabbits have been in the UK for 2000+ years (again, excluding the possibility of rabbits being brought over before the Romans as trade animals -easy to keep, feed and breeding meant they were a handy food source.

The earliest records show that the western European house mouse was present during the late Bronze Age and would have arrived here via trading ships from Europe which were common.

©Black Rat - British Wildlife Centre

Brown rat © Heiko Kiera/Shutterstock.com

I have little doubt that rats may have also made in to the UK before the official dates; the Black rat supposedly reached Britain (again) on trade ships in Roman times, having spread originally from India. They flourished until the introduction of brown rats in the 1700s which gradually displaced them and numbers declined.

Red squirrel (c) By Peter Trimming - https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-trimming/6583159839/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29980115

Added to the diet list of the Old fox were squirrels and I have no doubt birds of various sizes since New foxes take seagulls (if lucky) and definitely pigeons. Ducks, geese, etc. etc. etc.. and then there were the usual reptiles and amphibians and wild fruit, etc..

This means that the diet of the Old foxes was a varied diet -we know coastal foxes with scour beaches for fish washed up and crabs. Foxes will also actively "fish" in ponds and streams.

Fox with a fish (c)Arko Vision

Anything edible in swamps, marshland, forests and woodland, hills and mountain areas. If it could chase and catch it then it was food and the Mountain fox was not also known as the "Greyhound fox" for nothing.

We can guess a lot about their diets

What Size Was the Old British Mountain Fox and How Rugged Was It?

 

Above: An adult coyote taxidermy placed in front of what John Colquhoun called a "good specimen Mountain fox" -note that the coyote is actually raised up so that it could be compared next to the fox which is much bigger. (c)2025 Extinct Fox and Wild Cats Museum

Re the Old foxes. We know that they were greater in size than a red fox. We know they had longer legs and if a red fox can jumped onto a 6ft (1.8288) high fence/wall then a Mountain fox would have no problem.

Studying anatomy you need at least 2-3 good examples of Old foxes to compare them and I believe that we have the have the Colquhoun mountain fox and two others (sex undetermined as taxidermy makes it difficult and these are scientifically important so nothing that could be destructive to the taxidermy is undertaken). Comparing the three (at least) in the collection would show their size and an expert can do the math from that. Hunt chases of these foxes recorded them being chased until killed or lost sight of for one or more hours over rugged terrain and from, 2-20+ miles. The Mountain fox was also big enough to try to fight off the hounds which was what hunters looked forward to -"in at the kill".

The heaviest fox we have had for the first necropsy study of British foxes was 8kgs. We know that the Colquhoun fox was larger than the coyote and an adult coyote can weigh 11-15kg (25-35 lbs dependent on sex etc). or: "Coyotes are significantly smaller than wolves. Their bodies are typically up to 1.3 metres (4.26 feet) long, standing approximately 60 centimetres (2 feet) tall. A coyote can weigh 9 to 23 kilograms (20-50 pounds), but it depends on where they're found and the abundance of available prey"

It is safe to say that the Mountain fox would be tough and rugged but stories from hunters about their abilities need to be taken with a bag of salt. We know that various authors claimed cubs were "corn in the stubble" or above ground but evidence seems to show that any safe location within a territory would have been used.

Hill foxes obviously chose crevices, caves and anywhere that was safe and sheltered. There are even photographs of coastal foxes amongst cliffs.

When hunters realised that the Old foxes were becoming extinct -and they knew and wrote about this from the 18th century on- the importations began. We know for a fact that an Old type fox was imported from Norway as there are contemporary news and articles about this. The Norwegian Mountain fox was praised for being possibly even larger and stronger than the Old British fox. Hunting in the UK did not just killed off the Old British foxes seems to have (through trapping and importing from Norway) killed off the last of the Old Western European fox.

When importing from Europe was insufficient the hunt members did what was the thing back in the 19th century; attempted cross-breeding of wolves/jackals/coyotes and so on (everything from game birds, fish etc had some hunt/naturalist working to create the perfect hybrid to hunt, kill and then display). Since the old colonial hunts and "holiday hunts" to Europe and the United States gave the hunting fraternity the "taste" for hunting large wild canids -in the 1800s the then Duke of Beaufort loved wolf hunting in France and was even a guest at a Welsh Hunts anniversary wolf hunt in North Wales.

The taxidermies of wolf, jackal and coyote masks (heads) are now recorded in photo archives.

All of this to replace what was the key wild canid which was not a rampaging carnivore but seemingly an omnivore like other wild canids. Extinction likely came in the 1860s at around the time other native species such as wild cats, squirrels, etc. Naturalists main interest was finding out things that helped hunt species.

Much of what we know can often be slanted in favour of "a reason to hunt" (one was never needed) but it is interesting that the age old myth of sheep killing foxes was laughed at by over 95% of hunters (who were also country squires, farmers etc) and that a reward from the 1800s offered to anyone who could prove foxes killed and carried off sheep was never claimed.

It has taken almost 50 years to throw aside the false 'history of British foxes' which has become accepted dogma and get to the true history of British foxes that was simply thrown aside after the 1890s for reasons long since forgotten.

The only thing we have failed to achieve is have the taxidermies of Old foxes and wild cats DNA tested as that could answer many questions but, sadly, we certainly cannot afford such work and no university or lab in the UK has shown the slightest interest. DNA testing would be the ultimate piece of evidence.

Bristol Fox Deaths Project 2021 -2024

 

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https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/bristol-fox-deaths-project-2021-2024/paperback/product-w4rp2zp.html?page=1&pageSize=4

In 2020 the British Fox and Wild Canids Study (f 1976) decided that the number of suspected

fox poisoning cases in the City of Bristol needed to be properly investigated. The attitude of "just foxes" had prevailed for too long and the number of deaths reported were either deliberate poisoning or indicators of some form of disease in foxes.

Necropsies (post mortems) were carried out at Langford Veterinary School via Bristol University Post Mortem Services with results going to the Wildlife Network for Disease Surveillance and Animal Plant Health Advisory.

Although there were Road Traffic Accident cases far more was discovered about how various illnesses and diseases affect the British Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and as the only necropsy study of its kind carried out in the UK the possible reason for the increasing decline of the species appears to have been found as it claims cubs and young adult foxes lives every year.

As the first type of study in the UK this is groundbreaking and of interest to not just wildlife vets but wildlife rescue centres.

 

Over Feeding Foxes IS Killing Them

 

The Woodland Trust:

"Most foxes live in rural areas including woodland, farmland and wetland habitats. But that doesn’t mean you’ll see a fox when you next go for a country walk - rural foxes are very shy. You are more likely to see an urban fox trotting down the street or denning under your shed!"

Correction: since the 1980s the rural fox population has been at an all time low due to hunting, night time shooters acting as "pest control" for farmers (cash in hand) or men and women who simply love going out and killing things(including pet cats -"Basil brush disguised as a tabby cat LOL!"- deer and anything else they fancy. 

Add natural deaths such as disease, etc., and the "everywhere" country fox is far from itr. In the Welsh valleys in the late 1990s weekend fox hunts (drinking 'clubs' with mixed dogs) were finding it difficult even to find a fox -a year old cub was a "great success". 

It is probably truer that more foxes are urban now than pure old type country foxes. The Old Briti9sh Cur or Common fox, rather like the jackal elsewhere, has always had a symbiotic relationship with humans and this is also true of the Red fox; humans moving around and setting up new homes means waste food and other items (bin raiding is a thing long gone with wheelie bins which would require foxes to start climbing ladders and lifting bin lids! Human waste attracts rodents -mice and rats

The Woodland Trust on what foxes eat:

"Foxes have a really diverse diet. They are expert hunters, catching rabbits, rodents, birds, frogs and earthworms as well as eating carrion. But they aren’t carnivorous - they are actually omnivores as they dine on berries and fruit too. Urban foxes will also scavenge for food in dustbins, and often catch pigeons and rats."

In the countryside rabbit was always THE top food item. There are even accounts from farmers of foxes denning near free ranging chickens and walking straight past them to return within minutes with a rabbit.  Some farmers who recognise the worth of a fox pick up rat tails (the only part a fox will not eat) each week to keep count of how many a fox has killed. Thirty was the top number I found and the farmer never realised he had that many rats.

You will note that "chicken" does not appear on the list of foods. This is because opportunistic foxes do not get many chances. People in towns and cities allow free roaming rabbits and chickens in their unsecure gardens and then call a fox all the names under the sun because it took a rabbit or chicken -buzzards and hawks also take advantage of "!townie stupidity". If you are serious about keeping chickens and rabbits BUY a fox proof hutch/enclosure -t6here are many types and sizes online.

Pigeons we know foxes will catch if there is the opportunity.

Possibly the biggest indicator of someones lack of any knowledge of foxes is the statement "foxes have stomachs like cement mixers -they can eat anything!".  No they cannot eat "anything" as they have systems adapted over millennia to a specific diet. They are hunters and scavengers but specific things as already noted. Eating those items gives a fox and its cubs immunity to certain diseases and we are seeing that immunity already vanishing.

Above: vixen possibly in early pregnancy

Below how a fox should look. Lithe and alert and ready to chase and catch rats as well as take any fruit etc it can find.

Below: these foxes are what any vet would called "grotesquely obese" -remember a fox is no bigger than a pet cat.  The amount of excess weight in these foxes will result in kidney, liver and other internal organs and what is being dished out in that mound of food can easily be described as obscene.

Leptospirosis and babesia have been found in foxes systems and they have a natural immunity probably because eating rodents that carry the disease helps build up that immunity.  After over 80 fox post mortems we have seen what is killing foxes (excluding cars) and we are finding kidney and liver damage and one thing killing foxes and cubs to a greater degree and this seems to be a national trend noted every cub season, is leptospirosis.

Why?

There are foxes that as soon as a feeder notes cubs, are fed raw chicken wings and legs 2-4 times a day. Uncooked chicken eggs are also put out. Cooked bones can shatter and choke foxes though some people still throw those out.  Chicken uncooked (or badly cooked) has a number of health issues attached to it and from the PM reports it appears those are appearing more.

A vixen has been seen returning to cubs every few minutes with a dead rat. Up to three in 15 minutes which tells us the natural food of the fox is in plentiful supply (and why we should let foxes and cats deal with rats and not wildlife and pet killing rodenticides.  Eating the rodents builds up the cubs defences against something like leptospirosis and they are just not getting the opportunity to do so. A fox will take every scrap of food you put out "Oh, the poor thing is starving!" -NO. It is storing food and much of it going to waste.  Every spring there are posts from gardeners about finding chicken pieces or raw/cooked eggs in their flower pots -that is because the fox stored it but did not need it as 1-2 times a day it got fresh food.

We have just had one fox whose stomach was "packed full of chicken" and that is not normal.  Chicken is not a natural daily food item for foxes. If you really believe that you need to "give a treat" then one chicken wing and legs a week is fine as it supplements the fox's diet 

Foxes will not starve: The estimated rat population in the UK is somewhere between 150 to 259 million. Putting that into perspective that is more than three and a half times the human population.

  Foxes are the best pest control you can get for nothing.  Global warming and environmental changes are making an impact and foxes are a good guide to environmental health.

Feeding huge amounts of junk food to foxes and from adult to young is all part of the ‘fox lovers’ attitude to gaining a “garden pet” (feeders do not pay vets to treat foxes they always expect rescues to do that) or enticing foxes and badgers into homes and hand feeding.

The attitude must change. Less junk food handed out. Unless, of course, you are deliberately trying to kill off as many foxes as possible and science is showing that this is what is going on.,

EXPOSED: Labour’s Secret Pro-Cull Panel

 From Rob Pownall  Protect the Wild

Protect the Wild has just uncovered a secret government review that has been happening behind closed doors. In January, DEFRA launched a review to look at the latest science on bovine TB (bTB) control, with findings due in June. But instead of choosing independent experts, officials under Minister Daniel Zeichner have filled the panel with people who have spent years pushing for badger culling. This is yet another example of vested interests corrupting decision-making at the highest levels. The recommendations from this review will be handed to the discredited BTB Partnership, a group dominated by livestock farmers, industry vets, and other pro-cull advocates. We already fought off Rishi Sunak’s sham consultation in March—thanks to public pressure, that was thrown in the bin. But now Labour is still allowing culling to continue in the so-called Low Risk Area, under pressure from the very same officials who pushed mass badger culling under the Tories. This must end. DEFRA’s Panel: A Conflict of Interest Scandal One name at the centre of this latest review? Professor Charles Godfray of Oxford University, who has been reappointed to examine bTB science—despite his long history of backing badger culling. Godfray was previously involved in the 2018 government review on bTB, which led to continued badger culling under Michael Gove. His colleague Cristl Donnelly, who co-authored work justifying culling in 2013, has stepped back from being reappointed this time—perhaps sensing the controversy. But that hasn’t stopped DEFRA from stacking the panel with pro-cull academics, including statistician Bernard Silverman, another Oxford-based researcher, tasked with checking the work of his own university. This is Oxford University marking its own homework. A sham. A total farce. Let’s not forget—Oxford academics have been at the heart of the badger culling disaster from the beginning. Professor John Krebs led the 1997 review that first pointed the finger at badgers, setting in motion decades of failed policy. The same people who got it catastrophically wrong then are now being given another chance to rewrite history. Sign the petition Why is Labour Keeping the Tory Cull Going? Badger culling has been an abject failure—scientifically, ethically, and politically. The government’s own figures show it has made no meaningful impact on bovine TB rates in cattle. Yet Labour, despite promising to follow the science, is allowing culling to continue in parts of England. Why? Because the same biased advisors are still embedded in DEFRA, still pushing their failed policies, and still refusing to let go of their obsession with badger blame. The questions we need answered are: 🔴 Why is DEFRA reappointing the same discredited figures to lead this review? 🔴 Why is Minister Zeichner allowing Oxford academics with clear conflicts of interest to dominate the panel? 🔴 Why is the Chief Veterinary Officer and the APHA still pushing the same pro-cull agenda? 🔴 Who is really making the decisions inside DEFRA? Sign the petition What Needs to Happen Now? We are calling for immediate action: 1️⃣ Professor Charles Godfray must step down from the panel. 2️⃣ No Oxford academics should be involved in reviewing their own work. 3️⃣ No panel members should have a history of supporting badger culling. 4️⃣ Minister Zeichner must act decisively and appoint a truly independent review team. 5️⃣ The Chief Veterinary Officer and APHA leadership must be held accountable for their failures. 6️⃣ All badger culling must end—immediately. This is a fight we can win. We’ve done it before. The public stopped Sunak’s consultation in March. We can stop this corrupt review too. Take Action Now 📢 Write to Minister Daniel Zeichner—demand he removes Godfray and overhauls this panel. We’ve set up a petition so you can send our pre-written letter in just a single click. Click the button below to take action in just a few seconds. Sign the petition 📢 Sign the petition to end the Badger cull itself—help us expose this scandal and pressure the government to act. 📢 Share this far and wide—the public needs to know what’s happening behind closed doors. For 14 years, badgers have been blamed and slaughtered for a problem that lies with poor cattle testing and biosecurity failings in the livestock industry. Labour promised a fresh approach. But unless we act now, this will just be Tory badger culling 2.0—with the same people pulling the strings. It’s time to end the culls. No more excuses. No more sham reviews. No more badger scapegoating. Sign the petition   Like Comment Restack   © 2025 Protect the Wild Protect the Wild, 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London, W2CH 9JQ Unsubscribe