Rottweiler has become best friends with a fox

A pet rottweiler called Spartan has become such good friends with rescued fox Ruby that he even grooms her face. Spartan, the 12-year-old dog, became unlikely best friends with Ruby, after she was taken in and hand-reared four years ago by Ray Allibone, who runs Swampys Wildlife Rescue in Sheerness, Kent.



He said: “They get on really well. She pesters him a bit because she likes her face washed. They’re extremely friendly.” Ruby came to him very young and suffered bad health for a time. He had hoped to release her with a group of other cubs, but when she was well enough Mr Allibone said he was unfortunately let down.



The longer she stayed, the more “humanised” she became so he decided to make her his responsibility rather than let her potentially die in the wild. Ruby has her own enclosure and goes out for walks with Spartan on a lead. Mr Allibone stressed that foxes should not be kept as pets because they tend do as they please.


YouTube video. Original Facebook video.

Mr Allibone, 59, added: “You have to know what you are doing. You can’t train them as you would a dog. You could look at them more like a cat.They do whatever they like. She comes inside of an evening for a couple of hours or so and she goes back out again.”