News from Westminster Labour

Call for Westminster Council action after urban fox leaves pet for dead

Queen’s Park Councillors have repeated their call on Westminster Council to take action to safeguard residents’ children and pets from urban foxes which roam around many parts of north Westminster, including Queen’s Park, St John’s Wood and Bayswater.

Queen’s Park resident Sarah Weaver has written to local Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg to say;

“I know the council refuse to take the issue of foxes seriously, so I thought I would send you this photo to pass on to the relevant people to see if it might persuade them. I find it absolutely disgusting that people’s pets are being mutilated in this way and the council refuse to do anything about it.

The cat was lying in the pathway by the children’s playground on Ashmore Road as I took my daughter to nursery this morning, she has just turned 3 years old and is subjected to this kind of sight. When I went to pick her up it was still there and luckily I saw a street cleaner over on Shirland Road so went to ask him who I should call to have it removed. He told me that it was up to him to clear it away (poor man!) and asked me to take him to where it was. He took one look at it and said ‘foxes’ and then took this photo for me before clearing it away. While we were there a local resident passed by and said that she had seen the foxes there many times and that they don’t even bother to move out of her way when she walks past.

Seems to me this fox problem is getting considerably worse, they are everywhere at all times of day and night and this has gone way beyond just being a garden pest, when we are finding cats with their throats ripped out as we walk our children to school. And what about the poor family who owned the cat, they will never know what happened to it. There are always posters up on lampposts around here from people looking for lost cats.

We now see our two local foxes regularly sitting out in our garden and running along the fences during the day. I’ve seen them coming in and out of the car park gates at Queens Park Medical Centre. I don’t know where they are all coming from suddenly but it seems they are breading out of control or something and they seem to have no fear whatsoever of humans.”

Councillor Dimoldenberg said; “This is a shocking development in the growing problem with urban foxes all over north Westminster. So far Westminster Council has refused to take any action to safeguard residents, their families and their pets from the growing menace from urban foxes. It is time to take this issue very seriously before anything more distressing happens.”

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