CHESAPEAKE, Va. - Seito, a domesticated pet fox who disappeared from his Chesapeake home in the Brentwood section of the city earlier this week, was found dead Saturday.
His owner, Emily Dietz, announced the news in a Facebook post. Dietz said it looked as if the fox was shot in the head and that he returned home and died in her shed sometime while she was out looking for him Saturday.
Seito had not been seen for several days when Dietz spoke to News 3 on Friday. Dietz told us it was the first time he had been on his own.
Seito the missing fox
"He's not a wild animal; he doesn't know what all the dangers are," she said.
Dietz said she realized Seito was missing on Wednesday. She suffers from seizures and auras and believes he got out of the home while she was having a medical episode.
Dietz has a permit with both the state and city to have Seito as a pet. He had all his vaccinations, including those for rabies and distemper.
She had been his caretaker since he was only a few weeks old; he would have turned 3 in March. Since he has always had someone to take care of him, Dietz was afraid he wouldn't survive in the wild.
"He's not going to be able to hunt and he's going to want to play with strangers' dogs, which is going to freak people out," Dietz said. "I'm afraid he's not going to have a lot of safety when it comes to roads."
Dietz took to Facebook to get the word out about her missing fox. One of her posts has been shared more than 4,500 times.
She was offering a reward for Seito's safe return, but said she didn't want people to approach him if they think they spotted him.
