Red foxes have successfully colonised urban environments across the world; their management is often contentious, with welfare implications for both the foxes and the communities that share space with them.
Urban foxes face specific welfare challenges including road mortality, mange, and intentional persecution. Mange causes intense itching, hair loss, and eventual debilitation; treatment is possible with medicated bait. Lethal control, frequently requested by householders, fails to reduce populations and causes unnecessary suffering. Humane deterrence through habitat modification and food source removal is both more effective and more welfare-conscious.