We received an early-morning call concerning a fox cub that had become trapped in the filtration system of a private swimming pool. The finder believed the cub had been stuck there overnight. In its attempts to escape, the cub had managed to enter a small opening but became wedged fast.
When we arrived, the cub was still alive but extremely weak. His head was partially submerged in water and he was panting heavily, clearly exhausted after struggling for many hours.
Our team first tried to free him by carefully working around his body, but it quickly became clear this would not be enough. To give him the best chance, we made the decision to remove tiles above the filter housing and attempt the rescue from above.
During the rescue, one of our team entered the freezing pool up to chest height while another supported the cub’s head to keep it above water and prevent further drowning. Despite every effort, the prolonged ordeal had taken too great a toll. As the cub was finally freed, he passed away.
The cub had been trapped for far too long and was suffering from severe exhaustion and hyperthermia. Sadly, despite rapid action once he was discovered, his body had already begun to shut down.
This was a deeply upsetting outcome for everyone involved. While not every rescue ends as we hope, we believe it is important to be honest about the realities faced by wildlife — and the urgency of responding as quickly as possible when animals are found in distress.