As both the school involved and Lord Knight have failed to respond to this email it is now publicly published. It is important to make the point that wildlife crime is wildlife crime and as one other Bristol school is attempting the same thing at the momemt lessons need to be taught.
Email sent 17th April 2023 to Ms Stephanie Moore Executive Head Teacher Perry Primary School and Lord Knight of Weymouth Chair of the Board of Trustees
Hello.
I was shocked to hear that the head teacher and board of governors at Perry Court Primary had decided to call in a pest control company to get rid of a vixen and cubs on the school premises. Several parents were shocked by this and local fox rescue was contacted.
It appears that the head teacher and board of governors decided to circumvent getting any professional advice from either the RSPCA, Avon Wildlife Trust, Secret world wildlife rescue, etc. who could have advised on the matter. A vixen and cubs are absolutely no threat to humans whether adults or children. In fact, the local fox rescuer on hearing about the situation advised that if the vixen and cubs were left they would soon move on once the noise of children going back to school disturbed them -this is what vixens do regularly. The rescuer was told that there was no compromise and that the foxes “need to be out by Saturday morning or the pest control takes over”.
The lack of cooperation can be categorised as obstruction. Regarding the legal situation:
DEFRA on foxes https://www.gov.uk/guidance/foxes-moles-and-mink-how-to-protect-your-property-from-damage#foxes
Foxes Foxes are not protected for conservation purposes in England. The owner or occupier of the property where a problem with foxes occurs can decide when to control them. You or anyone you employ to control the foxes must protect their welfare. To discourage foxes from coming to your property you should: • secure food waste in bins • use fencing to protect pets and livestock from foxes If the problem continues you can use the control methods set out in this guide. You must not: • use gassing or poisoning • block or destroy fox earths if they are occupied • use dogs to hunt foxes • You should check cage traps at least once a day to stop a captured fox (or non-target species) suffering.
You should not relocate or release captured foxes from an urban environment into the countryside. Transporting and relocating foxes to an unfamiliar environment will cause them stress. Any foxes, moles and mink that you catch are protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. You can be jailed and get an unlimited fine for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
You must not block or destroy fox earths if they are occupied That last point is very important asif the den has cubs in it then it is illegal to remove those cubs. The rescuer found that the pest control firm employed had never dealt a fox before. On arriving at the school the rescuer found what she described as “horrible traps” in which the pest control company hoped to trap the vixen or the cubs individually. The rescuer immediately shut down. Against DEFRA guidelines and the law the pest control company stated that they were going to carry out, their own words, “a hard release”. In this case (if they did as stated and we have found in the past pest controllers not releasing but killing foxes once off site) the vixen and cubs were to be taken from the school grounds to Leigh Woods outside Bristol. An urban fox dumped in the countryside and there was not even the consideration that this might placing the vixen in conflict with other foxes and endanger the lives of the cubs.
The rescuer suggested that the school use Fox-a-gon, a company with a national reputation for humane trapping and relocating foxes be contacted. The school, apparently decided that at £1000 for the service the pest control company (which had never dealt with foxes before and obviously were as ignorant of the law on den disturbance as the school) was charging £750 and the ‘best’ choice.
As it was the efforts of the fox rescuer resulted in the vixen removing the cubs before the pest control company were due to arrive.
Parents and others are, quite rightly, angry and shocked at what the school had decided to do and some have pointed out that with a cheap camera this would have afforded a good educational opportunity for pupils to see “wildlife on the doorstep”.
The British Fox Study publishes a public list of companies and other bodies using pest control on foxes or carrying out den destruction. Perry Primary will be added to this list.
With so many wildlife rescues and bodies in and around Bristol it is unbelievable that the school never even checked the legality of what they had decided to do. Perhaps it might be appropriate for the school to organise wildlife educational lessons -for staff and pupils.
