Often omitted from declining wildlife statistics is the Red Fox. The BBS report of 2018 states a 42% decline in the red fox across the UK. These declines have continued. Alarmingly, the report of 2022 states the decline has already escalated to 48%. The red fox is our only wild member of the dog family and has been present in Britain since at least 12,800 BP.

There are no restrictions on owning an air gun at age 18. According to BASC anyone aged 14 - 17 years old can borrow an air gun and it’s ammunition and use it without supervision on private premises. Those under 14 can still use an air gun but they must be under the supervision of someone over 21 on private premises. These age restrictions are worrying on many levels.

The Home Office states air weapons can be used for ‘target shooting, vermin control (foxes are not and have never been classified as vermin by DEFRA) and hunting small game’. According to BASC small game are ‘brown rats,grey squirrels, stoats, mink and rabbits’. Red foxes are not classed as small game and this in itself should exempt them from air gun shooting. Air guns are not capable of killing a fox outright.

By shooter’s own admission (Field Sports Channel) foxes have a very thick skull, making pellet penetration difficult. In most cases these animals are maimed and often blinded with pellets lodged in their heads causing prolonged suffering. Sometimes weeks of agony and slow starvation before dying. During the breeding season when cubs are reliant on the parent for survival they too will succumb to a slow death.

Done on spurious grounds of pest control, ‘Pest Controllers’ bait foxes with food to enable killing them, often with air guns. If you don’t want foxes don’t provide food or shelter, simple. What ‘Pest controllers’ don’t tell customers is that the space left by the killed foxes will quickly be repopulated by more. Great business model.

Finally, foxes are a fantastic source of natural rat control in urban settings. This is evident when foxes are removed. 

There are No Reasons to allow the continuing use of air guns to shoot at foxes. Stop this unnecessary violence. Implement ban immediately.