Concerns for foxes safety as school seeks to remove them

Almost 11,000 people have signed a petition calling on a primary school to refrain from removing foxes from its land.

Our Lady of Rosary Catholic Primary School in Holbeach Gardens, Sidcup has said it wants to minimise fox intrusion on the school – but that the animals will be removed humanely.

It has brought in Fox-A-Gon, a non-lethal control service which uses deterrents, repellents, fencing and removal.

The petition against trapping foxes at the school claims they would be trapped and then shot off-site – a claim the school and Fox-A-Gon deny.

Creator Stanley Thomas said: “The school has closed its Twitter account as a result of the attention from this issue.

The phone number is now out of order. If they had nothing to hide why would they not simply refute the suspicion that the foxes are being treated inhumanely?

“Once people return to the school the foxes will be inhibited from returning to the site and their territorial boundaries will return to normal.

“The school website describes how respect and compassion are important values for their pupils. Please ask the school to extend these same values to the much-loved fox families that visit or live in their grounds.”

One comment said: “This type of pest control involves trapping live foxes, causing agitation and potential injuries before shooting them off-site.”

Fox-A-Gon’s Terry Woods said: “We have visited the site and been engaged by the school. We have formulated a plan. As usual we will not discuss what we do for client’s but you can rest assured no animals will be harmed as a result.”

A statement on the school’s website from headteacher Mrs D Edwards said: “In order for the school to open safely in September, we have contacted the charity Fox Project and are working with their partner organisation Fox-a-gon.

“This is a humane deterrence service that draws on knowledge of the species and its behaviour by using non-harmful methods.

“We have agreed a plan to minimise fox intrusion on the site and to deter them from the school grounds without causing any harm to the foxes.

“We look forward to welcoming the children back to a healthy and safe school environment, for a new start in September.”

The Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 makes it illegal to snare any animal in the UK. Foxes are also protected by The Animal Welfare Act of 2006. The petition is here