In 2017, Craig Mcgettrick had an unexpected encounter while clearing waste from a garden in England.
As he lifted an old mattress to dispose of it, he found what he thought were five little puppies or kittens lying underneath it.

Craig decided to take them with him and contacted a local animal shelter to care for them. Before handing them over to the shelter, he posted pictures of the cute little “pups” on Facebook in the hope of finding a new owner for them.

The photos went viral and eventually caught the attention of Martin Hemmington, founder of the National Fox Welfare Society. He contacted Craig and informed him that what he thought were puppies were actually five little fox cubs.

Hemmington reached out to a local rescuer, Paul McDonald, who made sure the cubs were hungry, which would cause them to start beeping for their mother. McDonald then took them to the same place where Craig had found them and carefully put them back.

Not long after, a fox approached the cubs, and it was discovered that they had been mistakenly taken to a rescue center in Liverpool as puppies instead of fox cubs. Fox cubs don’t initially look like foxes when they are born, so it’s common for people to mistake them for dog puppies. Vixens leave their cubs all the time while they are in the den, and as they get older, they begin to explore their surroundings more and become less dependent on their mother. Thanks to Craig, Beccie, Martin, and all the people who shared the photos, the mother fox was reunited with her beloved cubs.