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Fox image via Shutterstock
# Animal Cruelty
Animal rights groups condemn 'brutal attack' on fox in Laois
The fox was found tied to a gate after being shot and skinned.
ANIMAL RIGHTS GROUPS have condemned an attack in Co Laois on a fox which was found hanging on a gate after being shot and skinned.
Two local residents found the animal tied to a gate with blue twine with a stick lodged in its mouth on 2 February. Further inspection showed that the fox had been shot and its tail was skinned and removed.
Photographs taken by the residents were seen by TheJournal.ie but they are too graphic to publish.
John Tierney, Campaigns Director, Association of Hunt Saboteurs said today he condemns this “vicious and sadistic torture of an animal”.
“The fox receives no protection under Irish wildlife protection legislation so it is fair game for every sadistic fox hunter to carry out these evil acts,” he said.
The Alliance for Animal Rights also spoke out against the attack on the fox and organised hunts and shoots where people “do as they wish, dig out foxes, pursue stags on to the roads, throw live foxes to hounds and block badger setts and coverts away from prying eyes”.
Both organisations have called for the government to reform current legislation to offer protection to foxes under the Wildlife Act.
