Evening Standard/London

The family of a four-week-old boy  savaged by a fox as he slept in his cot today hit out at Internet “trolls” wrongly blaming them for the attack.

Denny Dolan had emergency surgery after his finger was bitten off by the animal which his parents believe tried to drag him out of the house.

He suffered injuries to his face and head, including a black eye where the fox thumped him against a door frame, and his finger was reattached during a four-hour operation at Evelina Children’s Hospital near Waterloo.

His parents Paul Dolan and Hayley Banks Cawley, both 28, expect to be at his hospital bedside for some days yet as he recovers from the “terrible shock” of the attack, which led to fresh calls for a city-wide cull of urban foxes.

The family revealed their distress was made worse by outrageous Internet comments attacking them. Banks Cawley’s stepfather, David Slack, said: “The things people are putting online about Paul and Hayley, it’s unbelievable. It’s just terrifying. There is no thought for the parents at all, about what they’re going through.”

Callous comments posted on various online forums have labelled the parents “chavs” and falsely suggested they blamed a fox for the horrific injuries to avoid having a pet dog put down.

The couple believe the fox got into their housing association property in Bromley through the back door which they claim had a faulty lock that staff failed to repair.

That explanation was dismissed by “trolls”, one of whom even mocked a picture of Denny issued after his operation. Dolan posted the picture of the injured baby on Facebook with the tag “my poor boy”. But a troll posted: “Ha ha!! What a ridiculous story! That child’s bandage looks even more ridiculous.... save this for April 1st!”

The comments sparked fury not only from the parents, but also from others online, with one writing: “I am shocked at the level of criticism being hurled at these poor parents who are grieving this tragic accident — just stop and think for a minute how you would feel in their position and stop casting judgment on them.”

Slack said the family is desperate to get back to “normality”, adding: “I am his grandfather. He is the only thing that matters at the moment.”

Mayor Boris Johnson today confirmed he is considering extreme measures to deal with the problem of foxes.

He said: “There are great difficulties in launching a cull of foxes... but they are pests and this needs to be addressed. I’ve asked London boroughs to review the situation and see what can be done.”