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A dog rescue and recovery group has stepped in to lead the search for a wild fox with a drainage pipe stuck around its neckThe fox, nicknamed Sly, has been sighted repeatedly within a small radius inside Delaware County, Pennsylvania, over the past several daysThe group, Good Boy Dog Recovery, urges the public not to approach or engage with the fox, which could result in injury to both parties
A dog rescue and recovery group is leading the search for a fox spotted with a plastic pipe stuck around its neck.
On Oct. 20, Good Boy Dog Recovery learned of a fox in need in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the organization wrote on Facebook. The nonprofit, which specializes in capturing and assisting “uncatchable” lost and stray dogs, added that the wild fox had somehow gotten a length of corrugated plastic pipe stuck around its neck.
While Good Boy Dog Recovery began searching for the animal in mid-October, the fox was first spotted with the pipe around its neck on Oct. 1 near a chicken coop in Broomall. Typically, the recovery group specializes in helping dogs, but it decided to make an exception for this fox.
The fox, whom the group has been calling Sly, has been sighted numerous times since the initial Oct. 1 sighting, per an Instagram post from the group. Repeated sightings of the same fox in a small area — one spotting as recent as the morning of Oct. 23 — means Sly is “staying in a manageable area,” the group wrote in an update post on Facebook.
Sly the fox.
GoodBoy Dog Recovery Facebook
“But please remember: this process takes time, strategy, and a lot of patience. It’s not like the cartoons where the animal walks right into a trap,” the group wrote to the public. “Every move we make is carefully planned to ensure this fox’s safety and minimal stress.”
Good Boy Dog Recovery noted that the best approach to helping the fox out of the pipe will be for professionals to catch Sly and transport the fox to a wildlife center, where he’ll be sedated so the pipe can be safely removed, and the animal can be checked for any wounds or infection.
Helping the fox is especially urgent, said Good Boy Dog Recovery president Colleen Bell, because the problems the pipe poses will only get worse come winter.
“It is limiting his mobility a little bit,” Bell said, per NBC Philadelphia. “He looks like he is a healthy weight, so he’s able to eat and drink. But as the winter comes, he’s going to have more trouble hunting. He doesn’t have full mobility of his neck, so we’re eager to get it off.”
In an earlier social media post, Good Boy Dog Recovery reminded the public that Sly isn’t just “sitting out in the open waiting for someone to act,” so sedating and transporting will likely be a difficult challenge.
Wild fox in Pennsylvania with pipe stuck on its neck.
GoodBoy Dog Recovery Facebook
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Thus, the group urged the public to keep an eye out for Sly but not to approach him or attempt to intervene. Instead, people should take a photo and send it to Good Boy Dog Recovery on Facebookalong with the exact location and time of the sighting, and the direction of travel for the fox. That way, professionals trained to help the animal safely can more easily find Sly.
“There’s no mistaking him — if you see him, you’ll know immediately,” the group wrote in the update Facebook post.
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