Note the very bushy tail and the white tip.
Now consider this account of a supposed dog-fox hybrid that was killed in Warwickshire, England, in 1906.
I think a really good case can be made that this animal was a side-stripe jackal pup, like this one. The head shape in the depiction of the “dog-fox” hybrid suggests that this is a side-striped jackal. The animal in question is said to be smaller than a fox, which suggests a juvenile animal.
Menageries of the day probably kept this species of jackal, which may have bred. Perhaps one of the pups escaped his parents’ cage and went wild in the forest. For that time period, I doubt that a young jackal could have been captured in Africa and taken to England while it was of that size. Because of the length of its transport to England at that time, if it had been caught wild in Africa, it would have already grown considerably by the time it arrived (and escaped).
I should also note here that red foxes cannot hybridize with dogs or any member of the genus Canis. They have often been reported, but they have never been able to withstand scrutiny. However, it might be possible that dogs could produce hybrids with South American canids, some of which are called foxes but really aren’t.
