Late one night in April, Ariel Montoro heard what sounded like a baby crying outside his home in East Gwillimbury.

Along with his wife, Montoro searched for the source of the noise but could not find it. When the noise was heard again the next day, Montoro searched under his deck and shed but still could not find what was causing the noise.

After putting out some animal feed outside, Montoro finally found the source of the screaming noise: a den full of young foxes, also known as a cub fox den.

Montoro called Aurora Animal Services to capture the animals, suspecting they were orphaned. He said a fox he saw loitering on his patio earlier this month “and driving his dogs crazy” was hit by a car just days before Montoro heard the cubs crying.

Fortunately, this modern retelling of Cap and Capper had a happy ending after Aurora Animal Services, the Shadow of Hope Wildlife Refuge, and Montoro came to the rescue.

Linsday Clarke, Aurora’s animal services director, said the other fox parent was injured and brought to Shades of Hope for treatment earlier this year, leaving the fox cubs orphaned.

The City of Aurora Animal Control Department provided humane transportation to safely rehome the cubs, and after four attempts, all of the cubs were rehomed and safely transported to Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge, Clarke added.

“I wanted to keep at least a few of them because they were so cute,” Montoro said. “And we wanted to make sure they were properly cared for and not just thrown away.”

After three months of care, medical evaluation and treatment at the Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw, the cubs were ready to be safely released back into the wild.

The good news comes at a busy time for Aurora’s Animal Welfare Division, which has been providing services for domestic and wild animals in Aurora and Georgina, as well as wildlife management assistance to the Town of East Gwillimbury, since May 2022.

“Summer is our busiest season,” Clarke said. “During these months, we typically receive between 200 and 400 calls for assistance each month from each community. These calls cover a wide range of issues, including ordinance violations, stray or sick animals, injured wildlife and a larger number of baby animals in need of assistance.”

Clarke added that another cause for concern is the “increasing number of surrender requests and abandoned animals in Aurora and Georgina.”

“Officers are responding to reports of kittens being crated and puppies being abandoned on the side of the road,” she added. “We suspect the housing and affordability crisis is forcing some people to choose between their homes and their pets.”

“The City of Aurora urges any residents experiencing issues with the care of their animals to contact Aurora Animal Services or the Georgina Animal Shelter to discuss options. We are committed to offering support and finding solutions to keep pets in their homes whenever possible.”