On the night of the 4.8 The Littlehampton Academy had a vixen and her three cubs shot and killed on their grounds. The reason: the foxes had soiled on the Academy's playing fields. Sadly these cubs were on the verge of dispersal anyway, moving on and finding their own territory anyway.

The Academy has stubbornly defended their decision and refuses to listen to multiple experts that point out humane fox deterrents and also encourage them to peacefully coexist with the foxes. An open letter from Fox Guardians received no reply. For an aspiring Forest School, this could be an amazing opportunity for a hands-on biology project, inspiring the next generation of naturalists

We cannot bring the murdered foxes back to live but we would like the Academy to commit publicly to never authorize another fox cull on their grounds.

With ever-shrinking natural spaces in urban areas, a vacant territory will quickly be populated by other foxes, desperate for an area to lay up in or hunt in. The Academy grounds are right next to a large plot derelict wild land "Oakcroft Gardens" that is earmarked for urban development. If and when this happens, foxes living on these grounds will be made homeless and are likely to be move on to the Academy grounds.

What will the Academy do when this happens? Keep shooting more and more foxes just because they are an inconvenience?

The Academy's tagline is "Inspiring Young People To Make A Difference" - yet the sad "inspiration" provided to their 1300 students is that wildlife is worthless and humans are within their rights to randomly kill any wild animal if their natural behaviour is inconvenient to them.

As a Christian Academy the school should lead by example and teach respect and compassion for all sentient beings. All wildlife culls and fox killings at the Academy must stop!