A family has been left in shock after it emerged that their ‘pet dog’, that angered locals by killing and eating neighbourhood ducks and chickens, is actually a fox. When Marible Soleto bought the new pup from a small shop in central Lima, Peru, she was convinced it was a young and innocent dog.
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Not a Dog
According to Soleto, the pet, which they named 'Run Run', used to play happily with other pet dogs in the area and would not get in trouble. But the older it got, the more obvious it became to its owners that something wasn’t quite right.
He demonstrated a deep passion for chasing, killing and eating ducks and chickens. This angered the local community.
The pet later turned out to be an Andean fox, with thin legs, a bushy tail, a pointed head and prominent ears.
According to Soleto, her teenage son bought the animal as a pet for the equivalent of £10 about six months ago.
We had thought he was a purebred puppy. A lady told us that it had eaten three large guinea pigs
The family has to bear the cost of Run Run’s hunting exploits.
Illegal Trafficking of Wild Animals
The animal has run away from home a few days ago and ecological police and officials of the state National Forest and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) are now looking for him to take him to a special centre or zoo.
Walter Silva, a veterinarian and wildlife specialist at SERFOR, told Reuters that it is disturbingly common to have wild animals being illegally traded in Lima by traffickers from certain Amazonian areas.
Trafficking in wildlife brings these consequences. Many specimens are captured from hatchlings. For this they kill the parents and these juveniles are illegally traded in informal markets. In this case, a fox bought as a domestic dog.
Silva added that the illegal trade in animals can lead to a prison sentence of between three and five years in Peru.
