A MOTHER of two who rescued an abandoned fox cub has been accused of being “unethical” by an animal welfare group.
Natalie Reynolds, 35, said she only kept Jasper the cub because it had been abandoned by its mother and would have died otherwise.
She has hand-reared the fox cub which she now lets play with her young children Chace, three and Marissa, five.
She keeps Jasper with her three dogs, cat and horses at their home and even takes him out for walks near the village of Sarratt in Hertfordshire in the UK.
Ms Reynolds allows Chace Marissa to play with Jasper in their back garden.
But animal welfare groups have taken a dim view of her humane actions.
Lydia Parry, veterinary nurse at Vale Wildlife Hospital, said foxes have been known to bite children.
She said: “They don’t make suitable pets, they are very smelly, they are difficult to look after and from the animal’s point of view we don’t think it is ethical at all to keep a wild animal in captivity.”
The family adopted Jasper when he was two-days-old from a veterinary surgery in another village in Herts.
He was handed in after being abandoned by his mother and mistaken for a tiny puppy.
Mrs Reynolds added: “It’s not like I’m just keeping him captive in a cage.
“He does have his sense of freedom and we do go on walks and things.
“People are always going to judge no matter what you do.”
