News Release

10th October 2004

URBAN FOXES DUMPED IN WALES

Michael Fabricant has deplored the growing practice of dumping urban foxes in Wales. "With the growing problem of increasing numbers of foxes in our towns and cities, it seems that do-gooders are now transporting live urban foxes from the West Midlands and other conurbations and releasing them into rural Wales where it is thought they will do no harm" says Michael Fabricant. "Instead, they are savaging sheep, poultry, and pets in hill farming country.

"With a likely ban on fox hunting about to come into force, this matter can only get worse. I urge people not to attempt to move live foxes from towns into rural areas." Michael adds.

There have been a number of reports of such incidents. The following report was filed by Nick Smyth of Pentre Bach, Llwyngwril, near Dolgellau in Mid-Wales and was reported in the Dysynni & Cambrian News on 7th October:-

A van in a motorway car park was found by an acquaintance of ours to be full of urban foxes. When questioned, the driver stated that the animals were being taken to a remote part of the country, where no one lived and no one (in London, presumably) had ever heard of and where "they would do no harm".

The driver could not pronounce the name of our village either. He was taking them to Llwyngwril.

In a neighbouring valley, farmers shot 118 foxes in three months shortly afterwards. How would ... (they) like to come down in the morning and find (their) pets in a bloody mess on (their) front lawn? This is the situation confronted by almost every stock farmer in the country at some time and in this part of the world very frequently.

Somehow the ignorance of these town dwellers and misguided do-gooders has got to be dispelled; somehow the government has got to be made to realise that country people will not bend when confronted with such an unjust law.