I can't stop watching this adorable hungry fox named Sophie begging for food. She's so dramatic, she should win an Oscar! She's not actually starving, she's very well fed and taken care of. I also had no idea that foxes (previously) could make sounds that are a bizarre mixture of a squawk, a scream, and a cat's meow.
Sophie is just one of the beautiful foxes who live at Save a Fox Rescue, a domestic wildlife rescue located in central Minnesota. Mikayla Raines, who runs the rescue, explains how she decided to focus on the rehabilitation of domestic foxes, many of whom were rescued from fur farms or seized or surrendered from homes where they were being kept as pets:
I discovered the world of domestic foxes upon taking in a tame pet fox several years ago. Domestic foxes are unlike wild foxes in that they are born in captivity to sell as pets, as well as being bred in "fur farms" for the sale of their pelts. Foxes born in captivity are unable to be released into the wild due to legal and ethical reasons.
Many of our foxes at SaveAFox come from fur farms, as pet surrenders, or were seized from their owners as the result of an illegal situation and then brought to us. Most of the fur farm foxes at SaveAFox are given to us because they are orphaned, have imperfect coats, sick, or injured, and therefore a liability or of no value to a fur farmer. Some pet surrenders come to us because people purchase a fox without understanding how extremely difficult they are to care for, while other pet foxes we receive were seized by authorities after being found being kept illegally.
It was in discovering the need for these domestic foxes to have a place to go when met with uncertain situations that I founded SaveAFox Rescue, which has been operating since 2017. To date, we have rescued approximately 150 foxes from certain death.
. . . My sole focus is to rescue these captive-born foxes, and other captive-born exotics, and see that they are spayed/neutered/provided for all necessary veterinary needs. SaveAFox also tends to their care and socialization to prepare them to live happy lives in knowledgeable forever homes. My purpose is reflected in SaveAFox's Mission Statement: "To rescue and provide forever homes for captive-born, non-releasable wildlife."
To see more of Sophie and the others (not all hungry foxes) at Save a Fox Rescue, follow them on TikTok or Facebook.
