Animal rights activists express shock at fox attacking Co Kildare pensioner
Animal rights activists have reacted in shock to revelations that a Co Kildare pensioner has been viciously attacked by a fox.
71-year-old Josie Hillis, was hospitalised in Naas General Hospital and had to sustain 20 stitches to her face, arm and hand, following an attack by a fox in her back garden at Dunshane, near Brannockstown.
Mrs Hillis and her husband, Fine Gael Cllr Billy Hillis, have about 20 poultry.
A fox, described by Mrs Hillis as large, with a glossy coat, was attempting to capture a peahen, last week, when Mrs Hillis tried to chase the animal away.
Her efforts to chase the animal did not work, she was shocked, when the fox swung around and grabbed her trouser leg. She slipped to the ground and then the fox proceeded to attack her face. The pensioner had to insert both her fingers into the fox's mouth to prize it away from her face.
The fox also tried to chew her finger.
She said: "I read somewhere that if you blow into an animal’s nose it will release its hold. This came into my mind and it worked long enough for me to throw it away but it came back at me again and grabbed my arm. I was able to reach a stick and beat it over the head till it let go. It kept coming back at me."
The traumatised woman is now appealing for the fox to be put down and is fearful that a child will be injured.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Kildare Animal Foundation, Dan Donagher, said that a fox attacking a human is unheard of and is a first for Ireland.
Kildare Animal Foundation has a specialist service for wild animals and cares for 30 to 40 injured foxes annually.
Mr Donagher said: "Generally foxes are timid, there are no young at this time of year, so the animal would not have been protecting its young. I would encourage people to ensure that their poultry are surrounded by adequate fencing. Foxes are looking for food, they don't understand that this is a person's livelihood. If the place is properly fenced, the fox won't go back."