Victim: Denny Dolan had a finger bitten off in the attack (Picture: National news)

The parents of a four-week-old baby whose finger was ripped off by a fox are keeping a bedside vigil for their little boy.

Paul Dolan and Hayley Cawley, both 28, are with their son, Denny.

He also suffered bite marks to his face and was taken to St Thomas’s Hospital for surgery to reattach his finger. He is ‘recovering well’ said a hospital spokesman.

The attack, on Wednesday, at the family home in Bromley, south London, has prompted calls for a cull of urban foxes.


Ms Cawley heard a ‘piercing scream’ and ran into the bedroom to find her son’s hand ‘halfway down the animal’s throat’, it has been claimed.



The shocked woman repeatedly kicked the fox in a bid to release her one-month-old boy, who had been dragged from his cot.

Boris Johnson said the fox attack should be a ‘wake-up call’ for local authorities (Picture: File)

The fox is understood to have crept into the house through an open back door, which was apparently awaiting repair by the council.

London mayor Boris Johnson called the attack ‘a wake-up call’ for tougher pest controls.

‘They may appear cuddly and romantic but foxes are also a pest and a menace, particularly in our cities,’ he said.

MORE: Are humans responsible for fox attacks on babies?

‘This must serve as a wake-up call to London’s borough leaders, who are responsible for pest control.

‘They must come together, study the data, try to understand why this is becoming such a problem and act quickly to sort it out.’

Twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis were seriously injured when a fox attacked them in their bedroom in 2010 (Picture: BBC/Leopard Films)

An RSPCA spokeswoman stressed that such attacks were ‘extremely unusual’, adding. ‘It’s not typical fox behaviour at all. Foxes will come closer to a house if there are food sources.

‘Then they can become quite bold, but they usually do back off and run away when there’s people around.’

A Metropolitan police spokesman said: ‘We were called at 4.38pm on February 6 by staff at St Thomas’s Hospital to reports a baby boy who had been admitted to hospital after being attacked by a fox.

‘Police attended to find a four-week-old baby with a hand injury. The baby was admitted to hospital after the attack at its home address in Bromley.’

It is not the first time such an attack has been reported.

Twins Isabella and Lola Koupparis suffered arm and facial wounds in 2010 when a fox found its way into their home in Hackney and attacked them.

The girls, who were nine months old at the time of the incident, recovered from their injuries – although their parents later revealed in a TV documentary that they may be scarred for life.