Residents in the area of Adams Street, Batavia, complained over the weekend about a fox that would not leave the area.
A Batavia police officer investigated and found a fox that appeared to be suffering from an injury or illness lying near the side of the road.
The Department of Environmental Conservation was contacted. The DEC advised, according to Batavia PD Chief Randy Baker, that the fox be destroyed.
The animal was killed and taken to DPW for disposal.
The nature of its injury or illness is unknown.
I hope this fox was sent to
I hope this fox was sent to DEC for rabies testing. It walked right up to me and my neighbor, it came within 3 feet of us.
Most of us in this neighborhood have dogs, so we were extremely concerned for the safety of our pets.
Kudos to the city police for taking appropriate action.
They'll send a Batavia Police
They'll send a Batavia Police Officer out to shoot a fox, but when I called last week about a sick raccoon out in the middle of the day, I was told all I could do was contact a private "pest control" company. No wonder we have a rabies epidemic here!
Dawn, BCPD have a protocol to
Dawn, BCPD have a protocol to follow, in this particular instance, an officer witnessed the behavior of the animal, and also had to instruct neighborhood children to stay away.
I believe the officer realized this was a public safety issue, and I believe Cheif Baker spoke to DEC before the order to destroy the animal was given. There was a lot more to the decision than whipping out a pistol and shooting. A rifle was transported to the scene and was used to destroy the fox.
I'm sorry your situation didn't get solved as well as ours did. I can't think of anything City Police could have done differently in our case, it was a job well done under the circumstances.
Frank, If they HAD been kind
Frank, If they HAD been kind enough to send a police officer out, they would have seen the behavior of the animal was NOT normal, nor did it look normal, and there are several small neighborhood children who also need to stay away from it! I'm thinking any animal who is behaving out of the norm is a public safety issue, and when it's in the middle of the city, it should be taken more seriously than it was.
I never meant to imply that they "whipped out a pistol and shot", I just think the response I got when I called was insensitive and calloused, perhaps because I was the only call they got?
I was told to "just stay away from it" and "it would probably be dead in a week anyway", an infested carcass for other animals in the neighborhood to pick at...I think they call that "the circle of life"!
Totally agree with Dawn here.
Totally agree with Dawn here.