SAVE ZOUZOU ......SAUVONS ZOUZOU ( fr & eng version )

By Jennifer Morris
June 21, 2013

GODALMING has become embroiled in a bizarre saga concerning an orphaned French fox, whose fate has become a cause celebre across the channel.

In 2011 a French court ordered a couple from the Dordogne region to give up male wild fox Zouzou, who they had adopted after they found him on the side of a road lying under his dead mother.

But a French judge fined them €300 for ‘keeping a non-domestic animal without authorisation’.

Since then, the fate of Zouzou has captured the hearts of thousands of French people but on Tuesday last week the couple, Anna-Paule and Didier Delanes, were refused permission to keep the fox.

Meanwhile, French campaigners have asked Hydestile Resident Animals, an animal hospital in New Road, Godalming, to take in Zouzou.

Owner Graham Cornick is happy to oblige but is waiting to hear from the French courts as to whether they will permit the three-year-old fox to travel to England.

A French campaign group has launched a petition to get Zouzou to Hydestile and it has already achieved nearly 1,000 signatures.

A Godalming wing of the petition has also been doing the rounds here and Mr Cornick said The League Against Cruel Sports has taken a particularly active role in circulating it.

According to French news-paper Le Parisien, Monsieur and Madame Delane plan to take their case to keep Zouzou to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France.

Mr Cornick said: “This poor fox is at risk of being destroyed.

“Although the French court has upheld the fine for the couple they have made no decision on what will happen to Zouzou.

“I have had a great deal of help from Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs).

“They say if I can get him over here then they see no problem in us keeping him.

“The fox has been vaccinated and microchipped so now we have just got to try to find a way to get him over from France.

“I know people will ask why we are bothering for a fox.

“I would say he is a poor innocent creature and has been back and forth for all this time.

“We have had so many messages of support from French people and it is so touching that they want Zouzou to come to little old Godalming.

“He is a bit of a celebrity over there, and is already gaining a reputation in Godalming as we have been spreading the word.”

The English leg of the petition, addressed to the Office National de la Chasse et de la Faune Sauvage, suggests that the fox’s only hope of a peaceful life is at Hydestile, where it can run free with other foxes in a large enclosure.

It explains that Hydestile is not open to the public. It states that the petition is key to making sure Zouzou does not finish his life in a box or a cage.

Mr Cornick runs Hydestile Resident Animals with his wife Lyn plus staff and volunteers.

A specialist in wild animal care, he gives talks to schools and groups, teaching about wildlife issues and pet care.

The couple decided to semi- retire but remain busy, caring for their permanent residents accumulated over the years plus other animals in an emergency if no one else can help.

To view the petition visit: www.petitions24.net/langleterre_le_dernier_espoir_pour_zouzou_le_petit_renard.