Friday, 17 October 2025
Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Fox Being Treated...call in another rescue that will kill it? UPDATE
Just a note for the public record.
Sarah Mills, the Bristol wildlife rescuer, was called by a lady she has helped with foxes before. The woman wanted a fox trapped as "it has a broken leg". The video clip which I have watched several times shows no broken leg -in fact when the fox was getting under a car it used all four legs. The fox does have mange which Mills has started treating.
The woman refused to accept anything other than trapping the fox and stated she would get a trap herself. She couldn't find one (presumably cheap enough).
The law regarding interfering with wildlife rescuers treating wild animals was explained to her and the regulations on this sent to her. Again, her attitude was that none of that matterede and that the fox needed trapping.
It does not.
Today the woman informed us that she has contacted a certain 'rescue' who say they will travel to Bristol and set up a trap. It is a big area, not in a garden. Regarding setting traps:
"Wildlife rescuers must check traps at least once every 24 hours, with some sources recommending checks every few hours to prevent stress and injury to the trapped animal. The specific frequency can vary by location, but a daily check is a common legal and ethical requirement to provide humane care for the animal. Some regulations also specify even more frequent checks for traps submerged in water. "
Travelling back and forth twice a day? Unlikely. Every day? Unlikely. The woman will not be monitoring the trap as she appears to not be that interested in being active on the matter. So a trap will be set in an open space where any cat or other animal can enter it and be trapped. If the fox in question is trapped that rescue has a policy of killing foxes with mange and they would also breaching professional ethics by trapping and removing a fox already being treated in conjunction with veterinary advice.
The woman herself will be black listed from receiving any future help and the other rescue had better be right on the ball as the area is monitored.
update
Apparently the regulations concerning members of the public interfering with wildlife being treated by rescuers also applies to other rescues. In the current case the site is being monitored as it is public land and no one can monitor a trap twice a day let alone each day so any animal can be trapped.
These traps, if we come across them will be deactivated and if continuously reset will be confiscated. We will not tolerate these people constantly sneaking around because they know we are involved but refusing to help members of the public reporting seriously injured wildlife.
The rescue involved KNOWS the fox is being treated so if they interfere and it was caught and killed simply for having mange the matter will be publicised and reported as well as a complaint to the Charity Commission.
Monday, 13 October 2025
Public Interfering When A wildlife rescuer is treating an animal
Public Interfering When A wildlife rescuer is treating an animal
A member of the public should not interfere with a rescuer who is treating wildlife in the UK. Interfering could be considered animal cruelty, as it may harm the animal and prevent it from receiving proper care. If you are concerned about an animal's welfare or think a rescuer is not acting properly, you should contact the RSPCA for advice and to report a potential issue
Reasons to not interfere- Potential for harm: Moving or touching a wild animal can cause it additional stress, injury, or pain. It can also expose the rescuer to injury or zoonotic diseases.
- Wildlife rescue ethics: The general principle is to allow the wildlife rescue to be handled by trained professionals to minimize human interference and ensure the animal's best interests are served.
- Legal implications: Interfering with a rescuer could be considered a form of animal cruelty, especially if the rescuer is in the process of providing care to a wild animal.
- Professional expertise: A wildlife rescuer is trained to handle the animal and provide the necessary care, so a member of the public should not attempt to take over or disrupt their work.
What to do if you are concerned- Contact the RSPCA: If you are concerned about a rescuer's actions, you should report it to the RSPCA for investigation.
- Monitor the situation from a safe distance: If you are not able to contact the RSPCA immediately, you should keep a safe distance and observe the situation without interfering.
- Do not intervene: Unless the situation is critical and the rescuer is not responding, do not attempt to take over the situation yourself.
A member of the public should not interfere with a rescuer who is treating wildlife in the UK. Interfering could be considered animal cruelty, as it may harm the animal and prevent it from receiving proper care. If you are concerned about an animal's welfare or think a rescuer is not acting properly, you should contact the RSPCA for advice and to report a potential issue
- Potential for harm:Moving or touching a wild animal can cause it additional stress, injury, or pain. It can also expose the rescuer to injury or zoonotic diseases.
- Wildlife rescue ethics:The general principle is to allow the wildlife rescue to be handled by trained professionals to minimize human interference and ensure the animal's best interests are served.
- Legal implications:Interfering with a rescuer could be considered a form of animal cruelty, especially if the rescuer is in the process of providing care to a wild animal.
- Professional expertise:A wildlife rescuer is trained to handle the animal and provide the necessary care, so a member of the public should not attempt to take over or disrupt their work.
- Contact the RSPCA:If you are concerned about a rescuer's actions, you should report it to the RSPCA for investigation.
- Monitor the situation from a safe distance:If you are not able to contact the RSPCA immediately, you should keep a safe distance and observe the situation without interfering.
- Do not intervene:Unless the situation is critical and the rescuer is not responding, do not attempt to take over the situation yourself.
Sunday, 12 October 2025
What Was "The English/Highland Tiger"?
The illustration on the left is a painting from around 1800, showing a Scottish wildcat being hunted by a pack of dogs. You will note the yellow colouration and stripes -hence the "English wild cat" becoming "the Highland Tiger".
Saturday, 11 October 2025
Never EVER wait until it is too late
When the environment and wildlife are under threat I have learnt after two decades that there are two ways to deal with authorities. The Left Hand and the Right Hand.
The Left is ever so polite and simply states facts trying to be as polite as possible.
The Right is the sledge hammer. I basically stop being "ever so polite" but am polite while showing my teeth. The Right Hand rarely fails.
I was alerted to a recent development but had no photos of badgers setts, no area plans showing where badgers were so as that stood I had nothing to back me up. However, I knew about badgers at the site in the 1970s and while people tend to be uninterested in them I am.
I found that BRERC had a record of badgers and though they would not give the exact location the term they used identified the spot.
The person from the old Avon Badger Group refused to allow me to see maps and info the group had gathered pre 1994 and told me "I shall proudly take them to my grave" -the logic there escapes me.
It happens that one person contacted me ands though unconnected to the group involved gave me a lot of info on badgers on the site in question.
THAT gave me ammunition.
I was polite for as long as possible but the council ignoring things I posted on all my blogs and social media, emailed and poked DEFRA, Natural England, and more for two weeks -even threatening exposure of the auction house (who claimed it was a Bristol company auctioning the site) trying to sell land illegally by not declaring badger setts.
I literally spammed several of the City Councillors who were involved with legalities and I posted here previously my "no more warnings" email to them.
Basically a couple weeks of morning until...morning and despite Chris Packham being seemingly uninterested (again) I tried everything.
I am now told that the auction is off. A little bird at the Council tells me I am a very unliked dirty word now. My big bow out fight back.
I am now awaiting the kick back ("they are going to be causing problems") as BCC do not like me and just lost £400K
Never EVER wait until it is too late to contact someone to help take action but if you do reach out you better make bloody sure you share the information you have.
Thursday, 9 October 2025
It's Time To Stand Up And Ask Questions From Media Darlings to Royals
Well, all that can be said for Attenborough's attempts is that he gets -1 because if , after many decades, he has never paused the Royals love to shoot and kill at home and abroad one can only assume Royal Patronage was more important.
Will it hit that many egos and challenge zoology and natural history and its dogma?
The documented evidence along with full references as to the Old British foxes and Old British wild cats along with photographic evidence (added to on this blog) is contained in the 2022 Red Papers. Interestingly, 'experts' have rejected offers to send them copies which seems very unscientific since we are all supposed to be studying the environmental and other factors from the loss of native species.
I have written articles summarising the work of the last 50 years -rejected out of hand. I suppose this is a case of "How dare you submit an article -you are not with a university or college!"
DNA labs have all greeted by proposal to carry out DNA work on the Old fox and wild cat species held at the Extinct Fox and Wild Cats Museum -which I can think of at least three angles for t technical papers - all ignored.
"Citizen Science" is another term for "You lot do all the work and we'll take the credit as the professionals".
DNA testing could reveal the long lost species that were not just living in Ireland and Britain after the Doggerbank submergence but also lived in Western Europe. That would, of course, smash dogma and rather than jump in and embrace any discovery (again, there are papers and possible funding in that) the attitude seems to be "If we ignore it and just keep pushing dogma our jobs will be safe".
Is Sabine Hossenfelder correct and science just can't be bothered and simply turn out nonsense papers -in zoology as in physics?
Is carrying out DNA work and studying the data that terrifying. Will it hit that many egos and challenge zoology and natural history and its dogma? It seems so.
Badger Sett Disruption Approved By Bristol City Council
This is the thing that is happening and BCC KNOW they are lying which is why they never respond to evidence or emails presented. DEFRA should be informed by the locals
Monday, 6 October 2025
Local Councils: Say Nothing. Do Nothing.
See previous posts on this matter. The attitude of Parish and City Council (Green Party Council no less) seems to be silence.
Wednesday, 1 October 2025
Some Vets and Rescues Need To Actually Ignore Dogma To Save Wildlife
(c)2025 Sarah Mills
I was asked which UK wildlife hospitals/rescues I would recommend that did 100% for wildlife taken to it and specifically foxes.
None.
There are a couple that are worth noting but I will not name as their approach is flawed and based on wildlife dogma when it comes to treatment. I score these places 1-10 and no one has gotten a 10. The nearest was an 8 but that dropped down to 2 for specific reasons.
Badgers do not depend on their eyes for survival -smell and sense of hearing are the most important to them and they are, after all, mainly nocturnal animals. We had an adult badger that had fallen into an unfenced garden of a basement flat. It was fine despite having gone unreported for 5 days and it had carried on burrowing and eating insects and worms.
It was taken to what I had always held up as a beacon of light in wildlife rescues. It would get good care there...except the vet "thinks it's blind" so it was euthanased. To say that I hit the roof is an understatement as this adult and healthy badger had survived (probably) its entire life blind and had it not been for a landlord not securing his property to prevent accidents, we would never have known. To kill it because it might be blind when there are also rescues or wildlife parks that might "take it on" put that wildlife hospital down to a 1.
The other reasons are that a fox blind in one eye "cannot survive in the wild" so will be killed (oops..."euthanased"). Before going on there are some rescues that will take on a fully blind fox). The fox depends on its sense of smell and sense of hearing far more than its eye sight and if you watch a fox you will note the sniffing the air but more than that the constant ear movement: this is very obvious when a fox is hunting rats, mice and even insects -it is not depending on eye sight.
I know of a good number of foxes who are blind in one eye and are thriving and even raising cubs and providing food for them. Killing a fox for being blind in one eye is based on very outdated thinking.
A fox has a facial injury -it needs euthanasing. There are degrees of facial injury from fresh to rotting tissue and exposing of teeth etc. When necrosis has set in it is too late and it is a case of ending prolonged suffering and I have seen foxes with really bad necrosis. However, it has been proven that even treated in the wild with the right antibiotics, etc., a fox can survive and thrive -even if it carries a scar. The example of a vixen that had cubs and was treated by Sarah Mills is noted on this blog. The alternative was to trap the vixen and then euthanase as well as trapping the cubs who were quite young. The "treat in the wild" method was chosen and the face wound healed and the vixen thrived -as did her cubs.
https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/treating-infections-facial-injuries-and.html
One rescue is still killing foxes with mange and telling people that "mange is a slow death and affects all the internal organs". Perhaps they need to read a book.
We then have the policy of "Injured leg? It cannot survive in the wild -euthanase it!" The rescue mentioned re killing foxes with mange has the same policy when it comes top any type of leg injury and they have told me and others that "this is standard policy". Even the formerly high ranked wildlife hospital takes that attitude.
There are, and not only in the UK, three legged foxes living full lives. I have heard "knowledgeable" people state "A fox can survive if it loses a back leg but a front leg means that it cannot -it needs to be put down". There was no "ifs" or "buts" -front leg gone kill it. Again this shows the absolute ignorance of people who might read dogma wildlife books or some blog and as far as they are concerned that is all factual. I suggest actually studying foxes and not Google search results.
Foxes with front legs missing have survived well, bred and even raised cubs. One vixen with a twisted leg a rescue (we know the one) stated would need to be trapped and put down. So the people let the fox get on with it rather than support killing it: the vixen has had at least two litters and even her adult dog fox offspring are put in their place by her. I wrote a post on leg loss in foxes (of course I did!):
https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/fox-leg-amputation-reason-to-kill.html
We have so far in 2025 lost over 300 foxes in Bristol and those are only the ones we know about. Imagine what the death toll must be like in London, Liverpool or any other large town or city. It is estimated that we have lost between 65-70% of the UK fox population and any and every fox that can be helped to survive and bring on the next generation needs our help.
Rescues and vets (although I have found that vets at certain rescues have a massive ego and state that euthanasia is their decision) need to update their knowledge because once we lose foxes in the UK there is no more mass importing to keep the population going. Like the badger and hedgehog once gone they are gone forever so WAKE UP!
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