A 4-Foot, 26-Pound Fox Caught and Killed in U.K.

There is a growing problem with foxes in parts of England.

A 4-foot, 26.5-pound male fox, twice the normal size of an adult fox, was trapped and killed over the weekend in Maidstone, England, about 30 miles southeast of London, reports the U.K. daily Telegraph newspaper.

The giant fox is a possible indication of many scientists' fears that, as wild animals get better access to the easy food pickings found in human garbage, they will get larger in size, the Telegraph reports.

English veterinarian Keith Talbot decided to set out a fox trap when he heard his parent's beloved 19-year-old tabby cat had been mauled and eaten.

When Talbot's parents went to bed, the cat was sitting on their doormat, reports the U.K. daily The Sun.

However, when his parents woke up the next morning, "there was fur and bits of the cat everywhere," Talbot told The Sun.

The giant fox was trapped with another normal size fox, and both were put down "in a humane way," reports the Telegraph.

There are thought to be at least 34,000 urban foxes in Britain, the Telegraph reports.

The giant fox may just add to growing public fears of fox and human run-ins after a report in June, 2010, of a fox sneaking into a London home and mauling infant twins in their crib.

Animal rights campaigners proclaim that most foxes live on insects and small mammals and pose no harm to humans unless they are frightened, reports the Telegraph.