Queen star Brian May has caused controversy with an online rant defending London's urban foxes just days after baby twins in the British capital were viciously mauled by one of the creatures.
The nine-month-old girls, Lola and Isabella Koupparis, were attacked on Saturday night (05Jun10) as they slept in their crib in a bedroom at their parents' home in east London.
The tots survived the ordeal but remain in hospital, with Lola's condition being described as serious but stable.
The news hit headlines across the U.K. and London mayor Boris Johnson has called for a cull in a bid to halt the rising fox population in the city.
But May, a long-time campaigner against fox hunting and bloodsports, is outraged - insisting the attack on the twins does not justify killing the creatures.
In a post on his official website, the rocker writes, "Trap and kill all the beautiful foxes in London? Are we mad? Kill these innocent creatures because they wail at night?... Because once in 20 years there is a story about a fox (oh... wasn't it TWO foxes originally?) attacking babies asleep with the windows open? Again I say there have been over 1,000 stories of dogs attacking children per year as long as anyone can remember... how come the whole race of foxes has been branded a menace? It is totally unjust. Unfair. Unpardonable."