In England, a paralysed red fox is receiving hydrotherapy, while in Switzerland a fox rescuer stood before a court.
Wild beim Wild Editorial Team — 23 September 2026
Fox hit by car, «Chance», learns to walk again in the pool
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In June, a young red fox was hit by a car in Huthwaite, in the English county of Nottinghamshire.
The driver left the injured young animal lying on the road and drove on. A local resident spotted the fox and noticed that its hind legs no longer worked.
The person who found the fox first turned to two veterinarians. Both told her the young animal would have to be put down. She kept searching and came across Mansfield Wildlife Rescue, a registered charity led by founder Cheryl Martins. There, the fox — whom the team named «Chance» — was initially given painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication while the organisation’s veterinarian assessed the severity of the injury.
Swimming training in a pool for dogs
After receiving a vaccination, the therapy began. Once a week, Chance goes to Mansfield Canine Swim & Splash, the hydrotherapy service run by the Mansfield Canine Centre. The pool is normally used by dogs recovering from injuries or surgery. The fox receives the sessions free of charge.
Chance does not encounter the dogs there, and contact with humans is also deliberately kept to a minimum. Only his carer Chelsea from the rescue organisation accompanies him into the water.
The hind legs are responding again
The treatment is showing results: Chance is increasingly supporting himself on his hind legs, regaining feeling in them and kicking with them in the water. If he can make a full recovery, he is to be released back into the wild. A similar case in England ended differently: the vixen Sweep became so tame after her recovery that she could no longer be returned to the wild (read the article).
More foxes are falling victim to road traffic
Cheryl Martins has observed significantly more foxes hit by vehicles this year. She attributes this to the loss of their habitats through development and to the heat: the animals are having to search further afield and more often during the day for food and water, when there is more traffic on the roads. Five foxes were brought to her station this year following road accidents, compared with two the previous year. Part of this may be due to the organisation having become better known. However, Martins believes there has been a clear increase, especially since many animals that have been hit are left lying at the roadside.
In Switzerland too, road traffic poses a considerable danger to foxes. The federal hunting statistics list such losses as roadkill, separately from kills by recreational hunters.
How Switzerland deals with injured foxes
In Switzerland, Chance would hardly have had this chance. The canton of Zurich requires that in the event of a wildlife accident, the incident must be reported immediately to the police via 117, who then inform the responsible hunting authority. Anyone who fails to report an accident can be prosecuted. In addition, one should keep one’s distance, not touch the animal, and wait at the scene of the accident for the hunting warden or game warden.
A particularly strict rule applies to foxes. The canton classifies them among the large wild mammals, together with roe deer, red deer, wild boar, badger, lynx and wolf. These animals may neither be transported nor taken to a veterinary practice. They are to be left at the site where they were found, and only the hunting authority may decide whether the animal is to be put down. If such an animal is nevertheless brought to a practice, it must be euthanised immediately. According to the canton, the legal and technical requirements for the care of wild animals have been uniformly regulated across Switzerland since 1 February 2025. A rehabilitation such as the one Chance receives in England is not provided for an injured fox within this system.
How delicate private help can become was shown by a case from the district of Meilen, canton Zurich. In June 2025, a young fox became entangled in a flexible pasture net. A 53-year-old entrepreneur cut through the net with a knife and garden shears and freed the animal, which limped away injured. Because he then failed to inform either the police or the hunting warden, the public prosecutor, according to the NZZ, requested a suspended fine of 10 daily rates of 120 francs each, plus a fine of 300 francs, for negligent animal cruelty.
The District Court of Meilen acquitted the man. The court costs are borne by the state treasury, and the acquitted man receives around CHF 5,200 for his legal costs. The ruling of 11 May 2026 is not yet legally binding.
Commentary: Two Views of the Same Animal
In England, a wildlife rescue organisation, a vet and a therapy centre are fighting for the life of a single fox, after two veterinarians had already given up on him. In Switzerland, the same fox would have been killed immediately at a veterinary practice. Here, his fate is decided by the hunting authorities — the very system that simultaneously manages the fox as a huntable animal. Anyone who helps on their own initiative risks, in extreme cases, criminal prosecution.
The case of “Chance” shows that non-human animals can be perceived as individuals rather than merely as population figures. That things can be done differently is also demonstrated by the Canton of Geneva, which has no recreational hunting, and by the Swiss National Park. Why fox hunting cannot be scientifically justified is documented by the campaign End Recreational Hunting of the Fox. The state of research can be found in the dossier Hunting Fact Check.
Sources: “20 Minuten” (22 September 2026), “Chad”, BBC, NZZ (12 May 2026), Canton of Zurich (Veterinary Office)
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier all arguments against recreational hunting gather fact-checks, analyses and background reports. What the research says about this is shown by Hunting fact-checked: the state of research.
