LONDON’S MAYOR BORIS Johnson has called for more to be done to tackle the problem of urban foxes in the city after a four-week-old baby was hospitalised after an attack.
Metropolitan Police confirmed that the month-old baby boy was treated for a hand injury in St Thomas’s Hospital on Wednesday.
“My thoughts are with the baby boy and his family. Thankfully this sort of attack, though terrible, is rare, but we must do more to tackle the growing problem of urban foxes,” said Johnson in a statement to the Mail on Sunday.
“They may appear cuddly and romantic but foxes are also a pest and a menace, particularly in our cities. This must serve as a wake up call to London’s borough leaders, who are responsible for pest control. They must come together, study the data, try to understand why this is becoming such a problem and act quickly to sort it out.”
It is thought that more than 10,000 foxes live close to humans in London. Although the RSPCA has said fox attacks on youngsters are rare, this is not the first reported in recent years.
In 2010, twin sisters were mauled while sleeping in their home at Hackney in east London.
According to the Mail on Sunday, surgeons spent hours working on to reattach the child’s finger. He is now said to be recovering well.
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