Jackson, a silver fox-colored male, arrived at TIERART Wild Animal Sanctuary in May 2019. He came from a breeding operation specifically designed to market domesticated foxes as pets.

Jackson spent the first two years of his life living with a female in a private home. When the veterinary office inspected the husbandry and found both foxes in poor health and with severe parasite infestations, Jackson was impounded a short time later and temporarily transferred to a local wildlife sanctuary. The female unfortunately died in the meantime and could not be rescued.

It was not until a full year later that Jackson could be moved to his new home at TIERART, as the previous owner had filed a lawsuit against the seizure. After a long legal battle, however, it was finally clear that he would not get the animal back.

Jackson is now enjoying the new spacious outdoor enclosure where he finally has grass under his paws and open skies above him. He especially enjoys digging dens and curiously playing with any form of occupational material. He shared his enclosure for several years with two red foxes, Porthos and Sir Henry, who could not be reintroduced to the wild due to a handicap. Unfortunately, both died in the spring of 2022.

In the summer of 2022, the animal caretakers noticed that Jackson's right eye was extremely swollen and watery. An immediate examination at the animal hospital revealed that the pressure in the right eye was significantly increased, causing severe pain and that the eye had already gone blind. The only option to spare Jackson further pain was to remove the damaged eye. To be on the safe side, Jackson underwent a CT scan beforehand to check for a tumor. Fortunately, no abnormalities were found.

The vet could only speculate as to the cause of the eye problem. An infection, a mechanical injury or even a congenital disease, known as primary glaucoma, could have led to the increase in intraocular pressure. Unfortunately, it was not possible to assess this precisely.

Fortunately, Jackson recovered from the eye operation very well and the wound healed without complications. His impaired vision has not caused him any problems since then. It was probably a gradual process and the blindness occurred some time ago, even before the problems with his eyes became apparent to us. The male fox therefore probably had time to adapt to his handicap.

Thanks to the dark markings on his face, it is only noticeable on closer inspection that Jackson is now missing an eye.