Wild dogs run amok

PACKS of wild dogs, including what appear to be purebred dingoes, are breeding up and hunting ever closer to houses, pets and vulnerable stock at Mooloo.

Young Mooloo farmers Lachlan and Eloise Curtis with Teddy and some of their Brahman herd, which lost 10 calves to wild dogs last year and six so far this year. Picture: Renee Pilcher

PACKS of wild dogs, including what appear to be purebred dingoes, are breeding up and hunting ever closer to houses, pets and vulnerable stock at Mooloo, on the south-western outer reaches of Gympie.

In the last few weeks the animals have been shot and/or seen close to homes in packs of up to five dogs, often in broad daylight.

Mooloo's last remaining dairy farmer, Warren Gibson, had a newborn calf completely eaten overnight just metres from his dairy, which was close to his house in Gibson Rd.

Blue Blood Brahmans' stud owners Drewe and Kirsty Curtis, of upper Mooloo Rd, lost 10 calves to wild dogs in 2010, at a conservative cost of $5000, and have lost six calves so far this year.

The dogs breed up and come straight down from the large tracts of state forest that comes down on to the back of Mooloo (and Langshaw), Kirsty said.

Frightened Smith Rd landowner Leigh Reilly this week described the situation in Mooloo as "horrendous" and called on Gympie Regional Council to take more action to reduce the number of wild dogs.

But mayor Ron Dyne said the council could only co-ordinate a baiting program between neighbouring properties - it was not responsible for controlling the problem on private land.

The problem for Mooloo residents wanting to bait in the past few years has been getting the 80% consent required from neighbours within a 2km radius.

In parts of Mooloo this has been impossible, and Ms Reilly says this is why numbers are now out of control.

The three legal methods of wild dog control in the Gympie region are baiting, trapping and shooting, with council officers responsible for injecting the poison into the bait meat.

Cr Dyne said while the council still paid for dingo scalps, it had no baiting program as such, and the State Government was responsible for controlling wild dog numbers in state forest.

The LNP this month called for a co-ordinated wild dog eradication program throughout Queensland to help protect the livelihoods of graziers.

Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Food and Regional Queensland Andrew Cripps called on minister Tim Mulherin to co-ordinate region-wide control programs.

"A real concern is the mismanagement of national parks and crown land by the Bligh Government has allowed wild dogs to breed up in big numbers," he said.

Wild dog numbers are definitely rising in Mooloo, according to lifelong resident Cherie Carlson.

While Cherie said dogs had not recently attacked stock on her parents' cattle property, precautions were always taken to ensure calves were kept in open paddocks, away from the scrub, and that "you can always hear (the wild dogs) howling".

Third generation dairy farmer Mr Gibson said he engaged a licensed shooter to control the dogs on his land, and that his neighbour saw five wild dogs on Tuesday at the end of Gibson Rd.

"We just keep getting them," he said.

"We get rid of them all and then a new lot come in."

The 1080 controversy

• According to the website The World League for the Protection of Animals, 1080 (sodium monofluroacetate) is a "cruel and indiscriminate" poison used to "remove" unwanted populations of animals.
• Banned in most countries, 1080 is still used liberally throughout Australia to control "pest" species such as foxes and wild dogs.
• 1080 poison is a slow killer. When ingested (usually through baited food) the animal suffers a "prolonged and horrific death".
• Carnivores can take up to 21 hours to die. The speed of death is dependent on the rate of the animal's metabolism.

Originally published as Wild dogs run amok