No, It Is NOT "ALL Leptospirosis!"

 

Oh I wish I could just talk to wildlife rescues and vets and explain things to them but none seem to want to communicate (and I know why).  

More and more of these people since I posted the fox deaths results are seeing jaundice or another symptom and citing "leptospirosis" without carrying out any post mortem or testing and unless you do that you cannot say for sure. I am reminded of the vet who stated categorically that the fox presented "has lepto -you can smell it on its breath!" Post mortem and testing and...no leptospirosis.  

Jaundice in foxes can have a number of causes  -as we found and as I reported. To take jaundice and say "lepto" is rather like the six recorded vets (I think it was actually more than six) who outright stated "This fox has been poisoned. It has all the tell-tale signs" which then whipped up scare stories and claims of a "Bristol Fox Poisoner" but post mortems revealed deaths due to being hit by cars.   

Leptospirosis is found in UK foxes but whether it is a regional thing is hard to say. Personally, I think it is a national problem since foxes are excellent rodent controllers and rats carry lepto -a senior vet with years of experience when told that the large number of foxes died due to lepto responded "lepto -as in rats?" yep.

Environmental issues that may be adding to the problem need to be studied but no one in the UK is going to invest money or time on looking into that "it's rats and foxes -who cares?!" It also need to be looked at from the perspective of young foxes and how quickly they build up an immunity to lepto or babesia -an immunity carried by most foxes. So why are so many not immune?  Again, foxes are dying out and we have already lost an estimated 65-70% so why bother?  

The UK, as I have stated many times, is not interested in long term study or conservation of species and one government after another has done its utmost to make wildlife decline its goal.  No wildlife then no obstacle to developing countryside and green spaces. Labour is doing its best to see to that.  

Wildlife rescues and vets are obstinate in that they do not want to give figures for how many foxes they euthanise each year and for what causes (although some rescues will point fingers at others that mention doing so). I have found that in reports where there appears to be lepto or some other disease involved that wildlife vets respond to suggestions that PMs and testing are carried with "I'm the vet and I'll do that when I feel it necessary" while rescues either will not respond or simply state "we don't do post mortems" or even "We wouldn't want to put it through a post mortem". Really? It is dead and what you find out might help others. Wildlife vets and wildlife rescues are part of the problem and after more than ten (10) years of trying I have not found one that is cooperative.  

Similarly the vastly out-of-date attitude amongst vets and rescues that a fox with a facial injury cannot live so is euthanised whereas we have mounting evidence that treated in situ they do survive and thrive -as found with coyotes in the United States.  Equally out of date is "Leg injury requires euthanasia as "the fox cannot live in the wild".  

There are three legged foxes around the UK and in the US that have continued top thrive and live their lives. "a front leg means there is no chance it can survive" -again, outdated. We even have on this very blog a post about foxes with three legs in the wild and one with a front leg missing who had bred successfully.

https://foxwildcatwolverineproject.blogspot.com/2024/08/fox-leg-amputation-reason-to-kill.html

I hate saying it but it is fact: this is all dogma. A vixen who had a badly broken leg that was healing was reported to a rescue and the people reporting this were told that if it was caught it would be put down. Five other people claimed to have had the same response so when I tried reporting a fox with a limp as "a member of the public" I got the same response. So I said "But what if it's just a pulled muscle or sprain?" and was told "It's standing procedure; leg injury means it has to be put down".

Leg and facial injuries do NOT mean a fox needs killing. And jaundice does not mean a fox has lepto -it needs a post mortem and tests to be carried out.  We seem to make headway in field work and studies but then find everything going in an out-of-date circle of dogma.

And can I just add here a big THANK YOU to those vets who do help out and go beyond what they are required to do in helping sick and injured foxes in and around Bristol. Those are a credit to their profession.

Photographic Evidence of Old Fox and Wild Cat Types

  It is always nice when you discover old books that back up your own research findings. My colleague, LM, recently found two sources noting the continued existence of wild cats in Wales and England after supposed extinction as well as noting the decline in fox numbers. One is Forrest, H.E. Catalogue of Peplow Hall Museum [formerly the Lord Hill collection at Hawkstone]. Shrewsbury 1907. Acks. Shropshire Archive.

The second source is The Fauna of Shropshire by (again) H. Edward Forrest, 1899. There are notes on continued wild cat existence and even more interesting are two photo plates showing and Old fox type and cubs as well as an Old wild cat with kittens.

(c)2025 British Wild Cats and Feral Study

These are old photographs but clearly show that these are not the current "wild tabby" being pushed as 'genuine' Scottish wild cats.  Even these, however, are likely to be hybridised as by the 1840s the genuine full blooded wild cat (if one had existed for hundreds of years -see The Red Paper 2022 Felids for details)was gone although some were still encountered that were quite large.

(c)2025 British Fox and Wild canid Study

Again, old photo but easily noticed is the absence of the "tear stain" muzzle marking and also lack of black which indicated new, imported foxes.  There is also something quite distinctive about the faces of the Old foxes that make them stand out.

Slowly but surely we have gathered taxidermy examples as well as photographic evidence of Old British foxes and Wild cats and those continuing the pushing of dogma through ignorance or for financial reasons can keep stamping their feet and name calling as much as they want.  Dogma is dogma which =lies.

Maybe some day a lab will volunteer to carry out DNA testing.

Stealing original Research

 As a response to people who pointed this out to me.

A great deal of the historical information, quotes from archives, images etc that are being used on The Fox Forum are MY research. Often not accurately quoted.

Let it be a lesson in who to trust in your research work.

Vets and Rescues Need To THINK and Authorities Stop Covering Up

 ADDENDA

08 07 2025

Today a collapsed and dehydrated fox was taken to the vets and put on a drip.  When Sarah Mills phoned to see how it was doing a rather indifferent sounding vet told her that the fox had ingested toxins (poison). Mills pointed out that there were no signs of poisoning and asked two specific questions and the negative response showed that there was no poisoning -as Mills pointed out: "We are the vets" was the response she got.

The vet promised to phone back at 2000 hrs which they did not.  We are therefore unaware of whether the fox was put down or still alive.  This same vet practice has now stated four times that foxes taken in were poisoned: one was allowed to be taken away and buried by a member of the public and the others disposed of.

I would draw vets attention to this:  

"If a veterinarian suspects wildlife poisoning and doesn't report it, they could be violating legal and ethical obligations. While specific reporting requirements vary by jurisdiction, failure to report can hinder investigations, potentially allowing further harm to wildlife and the environment. Additionally, it could be considered a breach of professional conduct and potentially lead to disciplinary actions."

and

"Veterinarians should report suspected wildlife poisoning incidents to the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS). This is crucial for investigating potential pesticide misuse and protecting wildlife and the environment."

Which means that one vet practice has now failed to inform the WIIS three times (potentially four times) of what they believe to be, and have clearly with no doubt, wildlife poisonings  and disposed of the bodies including allowing a member of the public to take one animal away.

If the current fox under their care has been euthanised and disposed of then the practice will be reported to the WIIS as well as the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Bristol is seeing far more cooperation from vets regarding foxes and wildlife now than two years ago. It has been a slow progress with Sarah Mills by and large educating vets on foxes. 

We have on record six vets who, when presented with dying foxes all declared "It's been poisoned" -in each case post mortem examination revealed the actual cause of death and not one poison related.  

Friday 06 06 2025  cub wandering around cul de sac staggering. bs34   Finder took to Rowe Vets who said cub had ingested poison (no evidence) cub died with no intervention needed. The vets then allowed finder to take home to bury. Even as a suspected poisoning –the fox should have been submitted as a potential wildlife crime as well as be reported to police.  This will now become yet another ‘poisoning’ rumour.

Thursday 03 07 2025  Filton Avenue. Older vixen with side of face half gone, infection.  Locum vet said                  “poisoning”(!!). PTS

Thursday 03 07 2025  Worral Rd, Clifton Down. Member of public takes  collapsed fox to  Zetalnd Vet                but it dies before getting there. Vet (AGAIN) says “toxins” but the number of flies seems to                    indicate infection. If poison was suspected then the vet(s) have a duty to report to police as                         possible wildlife crime.

When asked why he felt it was poisoning (despite the obvious cause of the fox dying) the vet responded "People poison them".   This means that he was simply throwing poison in as a nonsense. You CANNOT and MUST NOT state a cause of death unless you carry out a proper post mortem examination or signs (as from RTA) are obvious.The number of times vets out of sheer stupidity state "poison" causes a lot of public concern and hysteria.

If a vet suspects poisoning then it is his/her duty to report the matter to the police as a potential wildlife crime. To not do so is with holding evidence of a possible crime -to let a member of the pub take a suspected poisoned animal home to bury is so crassly stupid that the vet in question should be reprimanded by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.

The problem is that it is not just vets doing this. Wildlife rescues regularly report a dead or dying fox going to a vet and they are told "its poisoning". I have asked time and again what poison was involved -that is a simple public safety question and one that might give other rescues information needed later. "the vet said it was poison" or "We are not putting the fox through a post mortem examination"(?!) are the usual two responses or simply a refusal to respond. 

Vets and wildlife rescues have the same duty to make accurate statements based on solid provable facts but it seems that rumour mongering is top priority.  If there is evidence of poisoning then it is the duty of vets and rescues to clearly state what the evidence is and the poison involved and that will generally involve a post mortem examination.  A fox that has massive infection, and smells of infection and has had half its face smashed off by a car is not poisoning and I wonder whether that person's veterinary certificate came off the back of a cereal box.

In a six year period not one rescue claiming they have had a fox poisoned has submitted said carcass for examination to substantiate the claim and identify the poison. Not one vet I have contacted directly has ever submitted a fox for PME -most have the attitude that if they say something was poisoned then you have no right to even query that claim.

Over 80 foxes underwent PME in Bristol and only two were found to have secondary rodenticide poisoning having eaten a poisoned rat. We know that the rodenticide is used by the local authority but the Wildlife Incident Investigation Service treats its investigation and findings as secret -only they know WHO the poison was used by and the local authority. That attitude also needs to change as any death -wildlife or domestic pet- due to rodenticide used by a local authority is not a "huh up" project since those authorities are voted in by and paid by the voters.

Of course, now that a veil of secrecy has been pulled over fox death reports -unquestionably backed by the organisations involved- we will be lied to and misled. But vets and rescues need to think and get evidence before screaming "poison!" (although rescues get good press publicity following the claims).