It’s not a story you’ll hear every day.
A poisoned fox has been given a second chance at life thanks to a blood donation from a dog, the Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC) said.
When a woman noticed a fox lying on the side of the road on March 27, she thought he had been hit by a car. It was later discovered that the mammal was on the verge of death after it ingested rat poison.
“I’ve been doing wildlife rescue for almost 11 years,” said Sarrah Castillo of the TWC. “I’ve only seen a fox play dead once before.”
TWC’s Dr. Cameron Berg started emergency treatment to address the fox’s symptoms and make him more comfortable. This included IV fluids and housing the fox in an oxygen caging. Berg hoped the fox would be stronger by the next day, but that wasn’t the case.
“I ended up determining that he probably had some sort of clotting disorder,” Berg said. “In wildlife, it is most likely due to toxicity used in rodenticides.”
A unique but successful blood transfusion
Berg knew of a successful blood transfusion on a gray fox using blood from a dog. The TWC said there are emergency blood banks with dog and cat blood but none with fox blood. The TWC doctor decided to take a chance and try the procedure with a red fox.
“We ended up buying [it] and doing what is called xenotransfusion, taking blood from one species and giving it to another in hopes that it works out,” Berg said. “Once the dog donates the blood, it’s given to the animal that needs it the most. In this case, it happened to be a fox, not a dog, which is pretty unique.”
By the end of the procedure, the fox already seemed a bit brighter, and by the next day, he was more aware and responsive. The bleeding had stopped.
Homeowners and businesses that use rodenticide don’t often realize it isn’t a humane death for their target rodent but for many secondary wildlife as well.
“A lot of these toxins that they use to try and kill, say, a mouse or a rat, get into the environment and are consumed by many non-target species,” Berg said. “You end up seeing foxes, vultures, owls, hawks. A whole range of animals that are affected are collateral and unintentional.”
The fox is now stable, eating well, and acting normally, but TWC’s medical team is still monitoring it closely. Due to the rodenticide poisoning, the fox needs a complete 30-day treatment to help his body recover. He’ll then be released into the wild.