Farmers fear wild dog control to end on Oct 1, as video shows dingo attack

Farmers fear the Victorian Government will end all wild dog control on crown land on October 1, as video emerges of a failed attack on calves near Benambra. Watch it here.

Farmers fear the Victorian Government is about to end all wild dog control on public land on October 1.

The ministerial order that allows the state’s 20-odd dog controllers to bait, trap and shoot wild dogs on Crown land within 3kms of farm boundaries, is due to expire on September 30.

Yet neither Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos nor Agriculture Minister Ros Spence have announced the results of a backroom review of wild dog control, which includes two members who are calling for all wild dogs to be declared dingoes and protected as a threatened species on private and public land.

Gippsland wild dog advisory group member Barry Tayler said on-ground government staff were saying the decision to end wild dog control on public land had been made and it was “cut and dried”.

Local Nationals MP Tim Bull said if what he was hearing was accurate then it would mark the end of the sheep industry in much of the state’s east, which consumers would eventually feel at the shopping register.

“It will cause an increase in lamb prices and have a significant impact on our local economy,” Mr Bull said.

Two dingoes move in to separate calves from the herd in video taken at Benambra this month.

WATCH THE VIDEO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

He said video had emerged this month that showed dogs were also trying to target cattle.

Recreational shooter Mick Ott took the video, while out helping friends control wild dogs on their Benambra property.

“We had some luck but saw more than we managed to knock off,” Mr Ott said.

“I took some footage of these dogs harassing some of their calves. Fortunately, these calves were old enough to be too much effort for these two dogs.

This family of dingoes is less than 100m from the cattle herd.

“Had they been just a few days old it would have likely been a different story.”

“Dingos or wild dog hybrids, when they are killing livestock it doesn’t matter.”

Mr Ott also took footage of a wild dog pack he came across in the area.