I am tired of reading about the baby boy who was bitten by a fox in an urban area.

While this was an upsetting and serious thing to happen to a helpless baby, it is surely a one-off and far more dreadful things happen to small children every day and are accepted as a normal part of life.

Children go in far more fear for their lives and safety from the very people who are supposed to love and protect them and give them a decent start in life – violent, addictive, neglectful and slovenly mothers.

Some children have dreadful diets which fill and fatten, but never nourish, live in dirty and dangerous homes with a total lack of love and care or mental stimulation. Yet we treat these criminals as victims and pay them money we can’t afford to carry on with their abysmal existences.

Social Services can only go so far in trying to bring some sort of standards to bear, but in our over-indulgent and under-staffed society, the children come a poor second.

Animals, including foxes, take far more care of their offspring and it is about time that we start getting our human houses in order before finding the (very) occasional fault in the animal kingdom.

Heather Causnett, Escrick Park Gardens, Escrick, York.


• WITH reference to reports about an increase in the fox population in urban areas, much can be attributed to leaving waste food exposed, attracting not only foxes, but other predators such as rats, alongside our countryside being steadily eroded by a concrete jungle.

Rabies was once a major concern from the Arctic to the tropics until this disease was eradicated in Scandinavia, England and almost made extinct in Canada.

Preventive measures meant stringent controls from muzzling, destruction of stray dogs and immunisation of the dog population, plus import controls such as quarantine regulations.

Fortunately we are an island, but this does not detract from us becoming less vigilant, both for the health and safety of animals and humans.

Or it may be nature’s way of redress for human behaviour toward all creatures great and small.

Kenneth Bowker, Vesper Walk, Huntington, York.


• BECAUSE of its ill-thought-out stance on fox hunting with dogs, time is nigh when the RSPCA has more blood on its hands than it ever bargained for, hence the fox who bit off a child’s finger in its own home in London, just recently.

Since the hunting ban, foxes have increased in frightening numbers. They are starting as wolves before them did. They are getting braver and braver. They enter agricultural buildings with impunity, even when humans and dogs are present.

It won’t be long before they do the same in urban areas.

Foxes are the conmen of the animal world. Never mind their cuddly looks and sleek movement, they are cunning, evil, wild and vicious vermin.

I used to respect and support the RSPCA. Not any more. As far as foxes and their cunning evil habits go, the RSPCA hasn’t a clue and if they had any conscience they would give a rebate to all the good people who supported them, but didn’t support a ban on fox hunting.

Take it from mystic Ken, they will regret the day they fell in love with Reynard.

Ken Holmes, Cliffe Common, Selby.