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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU boyfriends neighbour sets his German shepard on the foxes

126 replies

Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 00:26

My boyfriend lives on a neighbourhood close to several large parks. There are plenty of cats that roam freely here, I know foxes don't attack children/cats/dogs and luckily most of the people here have that sense too. One day however I was watching a familiar pair of foxes roam the back gardens when my boyfriends next door neighbour emerged from his house and set his German shepard on them. I immediately freaked out, I'm completely against fox hunting and I was terrified that I was about to see a fox be mauled right before my eyes. It escaped luckily but I just KNOW that this guy wants to see his dog kill the foxes. He was watching the scene, bemused, hand on hip. I hear barking out there often now but I don't go to look. I know what's happening. My boyfriend informed me that his last German shepard had killed foxes before too.

I don't think my boyfriend quite understands how utterly disgusted I was by the situation. This is their home too. We build on their habitats, all they're doing is trying to survive. And it's illegal to set pets on wildlife. He doesn't get it because his parents don't like foxes either but I was raised watching foxes raise their cubs in my grandparents garden.

I don't want to confront his neighbour because I get the sense that that would thrill him even more, but I can't stand it. I just hate people who are cruel to animals, and his dog could get hurt from this too.

Can I do anything about this? Report it to the RSPCA? Ask the nearby neighbours to stop leaving them scraps so they don't come here anymore? Try to lure them elsewhere with regular food? It just makes me so upset and I feel helpless.

Yesterday one of the foxes had a limp front paw, I'm scared she'll get caught if she goes in that garden again.

OP posts:
Lockheart · 18/01/2022 08:06

Some of these responses are totally mad.

He's not got foxes trapped or tied up and setting a dog on them (which is absolutely illegal), he's using his dog to chase them out of his garden (absolutely not illegal).

That's what we used to do all the time to keep cats and foxes out of the garden when we had chickens. If we saw a fox or a cat lurking we'd let the dogs out. No animals were hurt in this enterprise but the neighbourhood cats did learn to leave our chickens alone!

Unless you have actual evidence he's trying to engage in fox-baiting then the police and RSPCA will do nothing.

And to echo other posters, stop feeding the foxes.

XelaM · 18/01/2022 08:12

Foxes are horrible creatures that attack farm animals and spread disease. Nothing wrong with scaring them off

MrsTimRiggins · 18/01/2022 08:19

As others have said, there’s a world of difference between setting your dog/dogs on a trapped or cornered fox expecting it to be killed and letting your dog out to chase a fox off your property. The latter is hardly worth all this upset, well, IMO, as I do the same. The dog usually closest to hand is a small cockapoo, he doesn’t compare to the noise my pair of huntaways make but he seems to strike fear into the hearts of bigger creatures than him Grin
As an aside, you’re being a fool to feed them.

CheeseMmmm · 18/01/2022 08:27

Two minutes I'm not enraged at all!

It's something I've seen a lot on MN on threads about other things.

To do with other topics. Info from person there doesn't count as evidence. Why report if nothing apart from statement person there. No 3rd party testimony, other sorts of corroboration then really no point. Etc.

I was just interested. I can think of loads of crimes would be nope to reporting.

That was all it was. I didn't really understand where you were coming from saying OP no evidence no point rspca.

In general surely it's a bad idea to put German shepherds out in order that they essentially go to attack.

I don't know really but sounds like s dangerous plan unless they v well trained. And prob not living in residential setting.

SoupDragon · 18/01/2022 08:27

[quote CircusSands]www.gov.uk/government/publications/wildlife-crime-and-how-to-report-it[/quote]
What is the crime though?

anon12345678901 · 18/01/2022 08:34

[quote CircusSands]www.gov.uk/government/publications/wildlife-crime-and-how-to-report-it[/quote]
But it's not a crime if it's in his garden, unless the OP can prove with no doubt, he means to kill them. If he says the dogs chasing them from his land, that's perfectly legal.

PinkSyCo · 18/01/2022 08:38

A fox killed his rabbit when he was a child, and then his neighbours dog killed the fox.

Surely your BF must now realise that the fox killed the rabbit to survive, unlike the dog who killed it. Other than that I doubt it’s illegal to allow your dogs to chase foxes from your garden ( my dogs used to do it, with absolutely no encouragement from me), so as no blood had been shed I doubt you reporting this bloke will do you much good. Maybe you could discuss it with the nicer neighbours though and hopefully dissuade them from feeding/encouraging the foxes.

saraclara · 18/01/2022 08:38

I know foxes don't attack children/cats/dogs

Tell that to my friend who's cat had its stomach ripped apart by a fox.

LouiseBelchersBunnyEars · 18/01/2022 08:53

I’m confused, how do you ‘just know’ he wants his dog to kill the foxes.

He probably just doesn’t want the foxes shitting in his garden. Fox poo is the worst.

He watched with a ‘bemused’ expression?
What is an acceptable expression to have when your trying to get a fox out of your garden?

If you don’t want him to use the dog to keep the dogs away, stop feeding them!
They’re wild animals, not neighbourhood pets FFS

Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:08

Nope it's illegal to set dogs on them unless they pose a serious threat to your property. Which they certainly don't in this case! He has a barren garden, nothing there for them to kill, nothing underground that they might dig up, no property or plants that they might damage. Plus if you catch a fox you must kill it humanely, and 'mauled by German shepard' does not fall under that category!

OP posts:
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:11

We leave cat food and small meat scraps that are more often than not eaten by ravens before the foxes comes out for the night, it's not really about foxes it's about being sustainable with the way we live. But i would intentionally feed them if it meant luring them away from danger

OP posts:
XelaM · 18/01/2022 09:14

OP you are totally mad to encourage foxes!! Why on Earth would you do that?! They are horrible aggressive disease-riddled animals and no one wants fox poo in their garden regardless of how "barren" it is! People who feed foxes are nuts!!!!

XelaM · 18/01/2022 09:15

You are probably encouraging rats as well

Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:15

You set your dogs on people's domesticated per cats? That's awful. Why didn't you just go out there and shoo them? Laziness? Rather let the dog do it a potentially catch and kill someone's pet? What exactly did you think you were doing with this post other than happily admitting that you engage in animal cruelty yourself?

OP posts:
saraclara · 18/01/2022 09:17

@Lhun96

We leave cat food and small meat scraps that are more often than not eaten by ravens before the foxes comes out for the night, it's not really about foxes it's about being sustainable with the way we live. But i would intentionally feed them if it meant luring them away from danger
Leaving food out for foxes isn't 'sustainable'. It encourages rats and other vermin and is bad for the foxes, who you are encouraging to live a life that isn't natural for them.
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:18

Foxes are important for keeping rat populations at bay. My grandparents had an entire family of foxes that lived for generations at the end of their garden when they lived near our local park. Alongside the foxes lived ducks, badgers, and they had several cats and dogs. If your home environment is a safe place for foxes to make their home then you live alongside them because they have every right to be here too, you don't drive them away.

OP posts:
XelaM · 18/01/2022 09:18

OP - not sure which poster you're referring to, but we also have a dog and he barks at any cat that gets into our garden. So what? He doesn't hurt it, just scares it away. The less cat and/or fox poo there is in our garden the better 👍

Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:19

Foxes are important for keeping rat populations at bay, they're actually one of our only predators left in the UK. The scraps also attract plenty of ravens and crows which eat rats.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:21

Because he's done it before, I said that. An acceptable expression would be concentration, ready to whistle to the dog to come to heel if it got too close. Not leaving it outside snarling while the fox is trapped under the patio.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:23

That I will be doing! It's a shame because I know one of them adores the foxes but they take a direct route through his garden to get to her house so it really needs to stop

OP posts:
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:24

I dont feed them, this is my boyfriends house. I don't exactly control the waste bin in his parents house🤔

OP posts:
Original poster
Lhun96 · 18/01/2022 09:26

I dont recall taking issue with 'dogs barking at things' unsure how that is relevant? I think anything can be responded to with a 'so what' when you minimise it to something that sounds entirely reasonable (but doesn't accurately reflect the situation at all).

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 18/01/2022 09:26

Plus if you catch a fox you must kill it humanely, and 'mauled by German shepard' does not fall under that category!

That hasn't happened.

MrsSkylerWhite · 18/01/2022 09:27

AnyBenny

I’m not sure you can say that foxes are “kind creatures” - they are wild carnivores and like a PP I’ve seen the carnage they can cause in a chicken run. Nonetheless, what this guy is doing is grim.“

Foxes cause carnage in insecure chicken runs.