Steve Mason was told he was not allowed to keep foxes at his property after a neighbour complained about the noise and smell.
The 68-year-old who runs Second Chance Fox Sanctuary, which relocated to Ampfield Riding School near Romsey after the previous landowner asked him to leave its former base, is currently keeping two foxes at his home in North Baddesley to ensure they get the treatment they need.
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The sanctuary is home to eight foxes that are too unwell to be reintroduced into the wild.
Steve said he occasionally brings foxes to his home on Ringwood Drive, North Baddesley, when they require intensive care that cannot be provided at the sanctuary.
Steve said Test Valley Borough Council issued the notice ahead of issuing a Community Protection Notice, following a complaint from a neighbour, who says the foxes were noisy and causing unpleasant smells.
The warning also states that he must not keep foxes at the property again.
Steve said: “It is so wrong for the council to be doing what they’re doing.
“If they stop me bringing a fox into my property, I won’t be able to treat them at all. That would mean I’d have to find another rescue centre to take them to, and in many cases that just isn’t possible. The foxes would suffer because of it, and that’s not fair.”
Steve is currently caring for two foxes at his home, Henderson and Fenton, which he said require specialist care before they can be reintroduced to the sanctuary.
Henderson suffers from an illness called toxoplasmosis, which Mr Mason likened to Alzheimer’s disease in humans and an E.coli infection.
Henderson (Image: Submitted)
He said Henderson needs daily bathing, antibiotics and close monitoring, which he says is “physically impossible” to provide at the sanctuary.
Mr Mason said: “He spends most of the day in the house with me. He’s a very clean fox and incapable of making noise because of his condition.”
Steve is also caring for a fox called Fenton, who was formerly kept as a pet by a man in London.
Fenton (Image: Submitted)
He said Fenton spent five years around humans and had never interacted with other foxes, meaning he now needs to be slowly and carefully acclimatised with the other animals in his care.
He added: “If the CPN order was successful then any future foxes from the sanctuary needing treatment would not be able to be treated here and would suffer greatly because of this.”
Steve says both foxes are making steady progress and he plans to have them back in the sanctuary within a fortnight.
He also disputed claims that his property exuded any smell or noise, insisting that the enclosures were cleaned every day.
He also insisted that Henderson was unable to make noise due to his condition and that Fenton was a very quiet animal. He maintained that any noise the neighbour heard came from wild foxes.
Test Valley Borough Council has been approached for comment.