Supreme Court of Russia banned Russians from keeping foxes at home

The Supreme Court considered the case at the request of Dmitry Kobzhitsky, who asked the court to recognize the list of animals prohibited for keeping at home, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, partially invalid.  The plaintiff insisted that the term ‘red fox’, to which the law also includes household foxes from Novosibirsk, was defined too broadly.

Dmitry's claims boiled down to the fact that the list established by the government did not give him the right to keep the animal, which was used as a domestic one because of its domestication by the Soviet and Russian scientists.

The result of the application of the current norm is the forced separation of pets with their owners, which, according to Kobzhitsky, might cause a state of mental suffering in the animal.

In addition, the applicant noted that the list should contained only those animals that pose an objective danger to humans, while the Novosibirsk foxes were not among them.

However, the Supreme Court of Russia rejected the plaintiff's claims, stating that various experts were involved in compiling the list of wild animals prohibited for keeping at home. Moreover, the draft resolution had passed the stage of public discussions and did not receive any comments. The Supreme Court of Russia rejected Kobzhitsky’s claims, confirming the legality of the contested decision.