a rescued white fox

Rescued foxes find refuge in Minnesota

At Save a Fox sanctuary in Minnesota, fur farm rejects and exotic pet cast-offs find a new home.

A white fox named Rowyn relaxes in the sun in front of the barn at Save a Fox, where founder Mikayla Raines takes in foxes from pet owners who got in over their heads and from fur farms.
Photograph by Robin Schwartz

When photographer Robin Schwartz visited Mikayla Raines in Minnesota last July, it was a mystical experience. Raines’ property was surrounded by towering oak trees and waist-high, yellow-tipped grass. The photographer and her human subjects were covered in DEET and polka-dot bites from the swarms of mosquitoes. The heat was so intense that the two people who lived and worked there walked around in their bras, and the bright sun painted them with harsh lighting. “It was like a fantasy world,” Schwartz says.

Then, there were the foxes.

There are two species of foxes that live at Save A Fox—red fox and arctic fox. They have names like “Banjo,” “Todd,” and “Dixie.” Some are affectionate towards humans; others will ignore their

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