‘Catastrophic’: Wild dog attacks take toll

Farmers in Victoria’s northwest are struggling to protect their livestock, after the state government ended wild dog controls in the region last month.

Farmers in Victoria’s northwest are struggling to protect their livestock, after the Victorian government ended wild dog controls in the region.

Alan Bennett, who breeds Merino sheep in Yanac, northwest of Nhill, says dingoes have attacked his sheep five times in the past month, with the first coming days before the Allan government ended wild dog controls for the region on March 18.

“There were sheep spread across 1000 acres, fences knocked over, and dead sheep. It was just a disaster really,” he told The Australian Ag Podcast.

“We were told that because there was a decision pending that we couldn’t take any action at that stage.”

Mr Bennett said normally the procedure would have been to call the authorities that would come and trap the dogs that were causing the issue, but with the sudden change in rules, they “obviously couldn’t”.

“We’ve had four attacks subsequent to that, and they’ve been much more targeted where dogs have learnt how to kill a bit more efficiently,” he said.

Mr Bennett said the attacks were having a “catastrophic” impact on his business.

“It’s just the randomness of the attacks, the loss of animals, and the continued death of animals after they’ve been bitten,” he said.

“It’s a sheep property, we put a lot of time and effort developing it, and now we got this situation where we can’t do anything to control the dogs.

“When you spend your life looking after livestock, it’s heartbreaking.”

The government is reviewing whether all wild dog controls should end, with a decision expected in September.

Wild dogs are a problem for rural landowners, with farmers in Victoria’s northwest unable to control them after a state government decision in March.

Dr Barry Trail, who coordinates the Landholders for Dingoes group, that encourages cattle producers to live with the native predator in northern Australia, said alternative control methods needed to be considered.

“What needs to happen is a two-part thing. Firstly, if there’s going to be lethal control it should be restricted to private land, but going back to the long-term, when are we going to start thinking about the long-term benefits?” he said.

“Keeping kangaroos down, keeping feral animals down, and not relying on poisons and traps to kill a native animal.”

“The resources from government for national dingo control work is enormously focused on killing, so why aren’t we looking at alternatives such as guard animals, or fencing?

“It’s not just about the bottom line for producers. Dingos maintain healthy ecosystems and healthy environments in national parks because they keep the kangaroos and some feral animals down.”

You can listen to the full episode of The Australian Ag Podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.