City of Bristol College has completely denied claims that it planned to terminate foxes entering the car park near its College Green campus and said it had no plans to have the animals put down. The college said it would instead be working with "relevant organisations" to "secure the foxes' welfare".
Over the weekend rumours began circulating online that the foxes were under threat, including a blog post from a man who runs a Facebook group dedicated to foxes in the area, which claimed the college was "calling in pest controllers" to get rid of the animals. The post was widely shared on social media by local residents and fox protection organisations.
Following the post, one local resident, Sharon Bowen, told Bristol Live: "I feel distraught and dismayed that anyone would want to harm such a beautiful creature. Why do humans think we have a right over any other living creature on this planet? We all have to learn to live together.
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"My main concern is of course that these may also have babies, so what does the college intend on doing? They cannot move them on humanely and the fox protection group will tell you they will not cope in a new environment."
But City of Bristol College has since issued a statement which said the initial blog post was "false" and "not correct", that it had no plans to have the foxes put down, and added that the animals don't live on the site. It said it was extending its gate which would help to protect them. The full statement, found on the college's website, said: "Following concerns this week about two urban foxes living near our College Green campus, we are taking quick action to help protect their welfare.
"The foxes do not live on the College premises but they have been entering the car park, which could potentially put them in danger. We are therefore working with a contractor to add an extension to the bottom of our car park gates so they will not be able to access the site.
"Information on an independent blog post last week falsely suggested that the College was looking to have the foxes put down. This is not correct, and never was.
"We are confident that the gate extension work will not only help protect the animals, but will also assist us as we maintain our duty of care to students, staff and visitors, as we know there is a very small risk of the spread of toxoplasmosis or other infections from urban foxes. We will of course monitor the success of the gate extension measure, and we continue to liaise with our neighbours and any relevant organisations to secure the foxes’ welfare."
The college declined to comment further, but did agree to send Bristol Live a list of organisations it had approached to work with.
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