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Foxes pose threat to Buckshaw pets
Foxes displaced by house building at Chorley's Buckshaw Village are threatening the lives of pets in the area.
Misguided homeowners have been feeding the foxes in their gardens not realising they are carriers of diseases which can kill dogs.
Chorley natrualist and wildlife expert Cliff Jones said: "Foxes can spread diseases and Buckshaw Village is one of the areas where foxes come for food because it borders on more rural parts of Chorley where foxes live.
"It's not a case of there being an increase in the fox population but rather of an increase in visits to areas where they know they can get food.
"This has led to the phenomenon of the urban fox which goes through people's bins and knows how to survive in urban areas."
Now a Chorley vets practice is offering a vaccination amnesty during February and March in a bid to get people to protect their pets against the potential killer diseases, parvo-virus and distemper.
Catriona Shaw, a partner in Hillcrest Animal Hospital, said: "A dramatic increase in fox and rat populations means that family pets are at greater risk of disease. The urban fox population in the Chorley and surrounding area is now estimated at three foxes per square kilometre.
"The former Royal Ordnance site was the home to several dens of foxes and some people living in Buckshaw Village have been feeding them in their gardens not knowing their are carriers of parvo-virus and distemper making them innocent infectors of their own pets."
Mrs Shaw said that canine parvo-virus was particularly resilient and spreads easily and a significant proportion of dogs suffering from it will die within a few days.
Yet it can be prevented by a simple vaccination.
Mrs Shaw added: "The disease is said to be on the increase, as the number of vaccinated dogs is thought to have fallen below 50 per cent.
"Not only are these dogs at risk, but they may shed the virus into the environment increasing the risk to other individuals. Leptospirosis is another disease that can also be transmitted to humans, causing severe flu like symptoms."
For more on this story pick up a copy of Wednesday's Guardian.
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Weather for Chorley
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
