Pet fox found skinned at taxidermist

ATHOL — Marie Rozell's heart broke twice this week.

The first time was on Monday, when she discovered her beloved pet fox, Yelvis, had disappeared from his kennel.

The second time was Tuesday, when she found him at a taxidermist, skinned for his fur.

"I woke up (Tuesday) morning to a text that said, 'I saw your fox dead on the side of Ohio Match Road and Highway 95 in front of the auto wrecking place,'" Rozell said Wednesday.

She said an unknown person messaged her that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game had been contacted to conduct a biopsy on the animal, but when she called Fish and Game, she couldn't get a straight answer about whether they had her pet. She said she drove all around the area, frustrated with the false leads and not finding Yelvis' body.

Then an even worse message came through.

"Then a text said, 'I'm sorry, I picked him up (Monday) morning and brought him into a taxidermist,'" she said. "He said he took him to a taxidermist to save his pelt."

Rozell had posted on Craigslist and social media that Yelvis was missing, along with photos and contact information for anyone who saw or had him. She and her family filed an official report with the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Monday when they discovered Yelvis was not in his kennel.

The kennel is located on private property, in a secure location, and Rozell said only she and her family knew where Yelvis was kept. The report states that no damage was done to the kennel or its padlock and no indications of digging or paw tracks were found. The normally hidden key was out in the open, leading Rozell to believe that someone found it and let him out.

"There's no way he could have gotten out. There's wiring all along the bottom of the kennel to prevent digging," she said. "I would have never left the key like that."

She said she has no idea who the person is that texted her, other than someone with a "208" area code, but that person is being investigated by detectives.

"I don't think he was the one who took Yelvis, but I have no proof," she said. "I don't know who this person is."

Yelvis was a 2-year-old blue-silver fox, a breed that is not naturally found Idaho. Rozell legally adopted him when he was just 6 weeks old. She said he was completely domesticated because he was raised on a fur farm. She rescued him.

"If I didn't take him he would have been turned into some sort of clothing," she said.

She described Yelvis as "a cross between a cat and a dog," a companion that would walk with her on their 10-acre property on a leash like a dog but also a playful little guy that would jump around like a cat.

She named him after Ylvis, the band responsible for "What Does the Fox Say?" She said the name was a proper fit.

Rozell said she thinks somebody may have seen Yelvis in his locked cage and thought they were freeing a wild animal "because he looks like a wild animal but he's not. He's very much domesticated."

She said the taxidermist confirmed that Yelvis' body had wounds consistent with being hit by a car, but the whole situation is devastating and unsettling to Rozell, who was also injured when she was struck by a car about a month ago.

"There’s also a part of me that wonders if he was hit on purpose," she said. "Or somebody wanted him and he got away. He’s very skittish of new people."

Marie's husband, Scott, said he was really surprised in the first place that someone would even go that far back on someone else's property or steal something in these weather conditions, "let alone someone's pet."

"As for finding him at a taxidermy place, it's pretty much the very last place you would ever expect to find your pet," Scott said. "I know having a fox as a pet isn't common, so it might be hard for people to wrap their heads around the fact that he was just like your dog or cat. He was part of the family. Marie is crushed. She bottle fed him when he was 6 weeks old. It's definitely a tough one for her."

The family is hoping someone knows something about what happened to Yelvis. Anyone with information can email them at hopeforyelvis@hotmail.com.

"Words can't express how sad and empty I am after losing my baby fox. I will find the worthless trash that is responsible for him being stolen or set free from his completely confined locked kennel. I will never stop looking for the person who did this," reads Marie's Facebook page. "Identifying your child once he had been skinned was the worst thing I've ever had to do … someone will pay for this! RIP my baby."