Declan Donnelly, the 49-year-old co-host of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! whose infectious charm has entertained 10 million viewers annually for two decades, experienced a heart-stopping crisis on October 28, 2025, when his cherished 5-year-old dachshund Rocky was savagely mauled by a “grumpy fox” in their London garden, triggering a frantic midnight dash to world-renowned veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick’s clinic. “It was a blood-curdling scream!” Donnelly recounted in a tearful Instagram Live that amassed 3.5 million views within hours, his voice trembling as he described the “miracle” that saved his “little fighter’s” life, a story that has sparked 2.9 million #SaveRocky posts and renewed calls for urban fox management in the UK.
The attack unfolded around 11:45 p.m., as Donnelly and wife Ali Astall, 42, prepared for bed in their Chiswick home. Rocky, a miniature smooth-haired dachshund known for his playful antics in Donnelly’s family photos, slipped into the garden for a quick potty break when a fox—emboldened by autumn scavenging—pounced from the shadows. “I heard this unearthly shriek — like nothing I’ve ever heard,” Donnelly said, rushing outside to find Rocky pinned, the fox’s jaws clamped on his neck in a vicious maul that left the pup with deep lacerations, a punctured lung, and severe blood loss. “He was limp in my arms, barely breathing. I thought I’d lost him forever,” Donnelly confessed, tears streaming as he cradled the dog during the 20-minute drive to Fitzpatrick’s clinic in Eashing, Surrey.
