Urban foxes are one of the most commonly encountered wild mammals in UK cities, yet they are frequently misunderstood and subject to welfare harms ranging from culling to intentional feeding of inappropriate foods.
Urban fox welfare is affected by both direct harms (mange, injuries from vehicles, illegal persecution) and misguided human interventions. Mange causes intense suffering - affected foxes lose fur, develop thickened skin, and die slowly without treatment. Treatment with veterinary-prescribed ivermectin is effective but requires catching the fox. Feeding foxes inappropriate foods causes nutritional disease that is welfare-relevant even if less obvious than mange. The most welfare-positive human intervention is to not disturb foxes unnecessarily, contact wildlife rehabilitators if foxes are ill or injured, and treat mange appropriately.