Urban foxes are highly successful but often persecuted; evidence-based management supports coexistence without cruelty.
Urban foxes face a combination of welfare threats: mange infections that cause prolonged itching and self-harm, road mortality, and persecution by householders who regard them as pests. Lethal control methods — snaring, shooting, terrier-work — cause acute suffering and are counterproductive for population management. Mange treatment programs run by volunteers have successfully reduced disease burden in UK fox populations. Non-lethal deterrence and wildlife-proofing address conflict without causing suffering.