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 Killing a fox for being blind in one eye is based on very outdated thinking.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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