POLAND, 17 JANUARY 2017 – Cyryl and Ferdinand, the two injured foxes that were rescued from Polish fur farms, are settling in their new sanctuary in the Poznan Zoo. Last year November the zoo, in cooperation with Polish Fur Free Alliance member Otwarte Klatki (Open Cages), opened a new outside enclosure for the two foxes to recover from their injuries caused by the battery cage system on fur farms.

During an inspection the foxes were found to suffer from severe injuries and hospitalized immediately. Cyryl was in such a bad shape that his front paw needed to be amputated while Ferdynand suffered a serious skin disease.

Due to a successful fundraising action by Otwarte Klatki, the finances were raised to build an outside enclosure for the foxes. The official opening event took place on Zwierzyniecka Street in Poznań (the Old Zoo area), in the presence of the vice-president of Poznań, Tomasz Lewandowski, some members of the Poznań Town Council, the actor Michał Piróg and the Canadian photographer and activist, Jo-Anne McArthur.

The visitors could not only see two animals being brought to live in their natural surroundings, but also watch the play by Kornelia Lech, the actress of the Polish Dance Theatre (Fur Means Life Skinning) in the Grot and a photo exhibition from the Polish fur farms.

Cyryl and Ferdynand are not the first foxes that were injured so severely on Polish fur farms that they needed to be hospitalized. In 2015 two small fox cubs were rescued from a fur farm when an inspector observed the cubs were both missing limbs. Missing limbs from biting accidents and infected wounds are found to occur on a large scale on fur farms. The battery cage environment on fur farms is causing foxes numerous stress-related health problems. Animals kept for fur are mainly active predators and inherently unsuitable for farming conditions.