Police say no charges after fox attacks boy, as father demands cull

“I hope he does something.”

A spokeswoman for the Mayor said he would be happy to meet the family, and that he is to raise the issue of a fox cull with Defra.

She said: “The mayor’s thoughts remain with Denny Dolan and his parents after this traumatic incident. Whilst this type of attack remains thankfully rare, the mayor has called for borough leaders, who are responsible for pest control, to take a firm lead in assessing what action is needed to tackle growing concern about urban foxes.

“We have received no direct request from Denny’s family to meet the mayor, but should we do so, he would of be happy to meet them to discuss their concerns.”

The family, who have been attacked by internet “trolls” over the incident, believe the front door was left ajar when Mr Dolan left to collect Ms Cawley’s two other children Ellouise, nine, and five-year-old Lee from school, and slammed it shut, meaning the latch did not catch.

They think the area has so many foxes because people dump rubbish on a nearby green.

A fox has even sneaked into the house before.

Mr Dolan said: “I’m cross with the council. I’ve never had anything as bad as this.

“Dennie’s alright but it’s been horrible. We are moving home. I want to be in a flat, off the ground.

“The same fox that attacked my baby came back and was sitting on my doorstep.”

Ms Cawley told how she was forced to tear her son’s hand out of the fox’s jaws as it refused to let go during the attack on February 6.

She said: “I was screaming, ‘Help me!’ I got hold of Dennie’s wrist and I tore it out of the fox’s mouth.

“I had no other choice. The more I hit the fox, the more he pulled Dennie. “If I’d got there a few seconds later my baby would have been out of the door and I might never have seen him again.

“It saw Dennie as a 10lb piece of chicken to eat.”

Immediately she tried to staunch the flow of blood and told 999 operators: “A fox has attacked my baby and I think he is going to die.”

He was rushed to King’s College Hospital in Camberwell where doctors told them two of his arteries had been severed.

Surgeons at Evelina Children’s Hospital then operated for five hours to save his finger.

He is now back with his parents but there is a 70 per cent chance he will never regain full use of the digit.

The mayor said he was considering a city-wide cull of urban foxes, but admitted implementing such extreme measures would be “difficult”.

He said “There are great difficulties in launching a cull of foxes, not least if you could actually prevent accidentally targeting much loved family pets.

“But they are pests and they need to be addressed, that’s why I’ve asked London boroughs to review the situation and see what can be done.”