Wild, domestic dogs wipe-out $14k worth of livestock on the Western Downs

‘It’s the worst I’ve seen in my career.’ A Western Downs property caretaker is urging owners to control their dogs, with domestic and wild dogs teaming up to slaughter livestock at rapid pace. One producer has lost $14,000 worth of livestock in just three months.WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

IT’S GETTING WORSE: Western Downs property caretaker James Shreeve said there’s been an increase on dogs attacking livestock in the Tara district since he’s being working in the area for the past five years. Pic: Kelly Barnes

Livestock owners in the Tara district are seeing some of the most prolific wild dog attacks of their careers, with frustrated producers left to clean-up the gruesome and expensive mess.

James Shreeve is the caretaker of nine stock properties in the Tara district and said despite working all over Australia for three decades, he’s never seen the situation so dire.

“It’s been going on for over 12 months now and it’s only getting worse,” he warned.

“Just within the last three months we’ve lost about $14,000 worth of stock to dog attacks.”

Mr Shreeve said landowners in the district were struggling to protect their animals from wild and domestic dogs hunting for sport.

“I’ve shot a lot recently, about 40 dogs,” he said.

“But they just keep coming, most of them are wild dogs, but most of them have collars on too - and that’s what really annoys me.”

On Monday, June 14, Mr Shreeve said he was forced to put down two sheep after wild dogs joined forces with a collared cattle dog and German Shepherd, tearing out the sheep’s throat and groin areas.

“They’re not eating them, they’re just killing them and leaving them, they’re doing the same with kangaroos. You’ll just find all types of animals laying around the paddocks mauled to death,” he said.

One of the most devastating attacks happened in late May, forcing the experienced caretaker to put down 20 maimed sheep, two calves, and two heifers.

“At night you can hear the sheep and horses going off and you just have to get up, run out, and try to protect them - sometimes you’re quick enough other times you’re not,” he said.

“It’s the worst I’ve seen in my career out here and I’ve worked from North Australia down to Tasmania.”

Mr Shreeve has been working in the Western Downs region for five years and said irresponsible pet owners were adding fuel to the fire by letting their pets roam free.

“The main thing is if you have a dog or cat you need to restrain them, control them, and keep them on your property so they don’t become a problem,” he urged.

“Some people have up to 10 dogs on their property… owners need to take responsibility for what they have.”

A Western Downs Regional Council spokeswoman said reports of animal attacks were taken seriously, and she encouraged residents to report incidents immediately.

The spokeswoman said wild dogs were being managed under the council’s award-winning pest management program which aims to educate and support landholders to manage pests on their land.

“This program… includes proactively monitoring pest activity using artificial intelligence and supporting landholders to control pests via a range of means such as trapping or baiting,” she said.

“Animal owners are required by law to ensure their pets are confined to their properties,” she said.

“They must also ensure their pets do not negatively impact the community - including other animals.”

The Chinchilla News asked the council if there had been an increase in the number of reported dog attacks, but they declined to comment.

The council also declined to comment on how many wild dogs had been successfully killed in 2021 and 2020.

Western Downs residents are urged to report any instances of irresponsible pet ownership immediately by phoning 1300 COUNCIL.