Farmers and Council battle wild dog menace

By Richard BruinsmaFarmers in the hinterland around Hunchy are battling what one landowner regards as the worst dingo and wild dog season in living memory.Dennis Creasey, who has farmed the area for most of his life, has lost eight calves to wild dogs in the last 12 months, a situation he admits is quite emotional.“They’re just cows, but you’ve got feelings for them,” he said of seeing his young stock severely mauled by the pests.“This is the worst we’ve ever had a dingo and wild dog problem - worst by far.”Apart from stock, dingoes and wild dogs also prey on pets and native animals, transmit disease and parasites, and can threaten people – especially children. The wild pests often move around in packs.Thankfully, local farmers have the support of very understanding Sunshine Coast Council.With government rules restricting the use of poisons so close to Montville, and gun guidelines meaning the wild dogs are often long gone before they can be shot, Council works with Bio-security Queensland to conduct baiting programs in various locations locally.The four-week baiting campaigns are held twice a year, with the next program to begin on September 14.It’s a vital support service for farmers. It doesn’t take a genius to calculate the lost income that accompanies the heartache of losing valuable stock – at today’s prices, each $150 calf would fetch around $1400 when fully grown. On top of that is the cost of feeding a cow that won’t produce another replacement offspring for up to a year.But Mr Creasey said very few of the attacks were by pure breed dingoes – a significant majority of trapped culprits are cross breeds with domestic dogs.“They take a section of the ear for DNA testing,” he explained. “Only 5% of all the tested animals are actually pure dingoes, the other 95% are cross-breeds.”“I wouldn’t like to be on the end of a dingo’s bite and, if they have some larger hunting dog (bred) in them, he’s much bigger and stronger and attacks a different way.”Mr Creasy’s own experience is that dingoes will attack the hind quarters of the livestock, while the crossbreeds will attack around the head, ears, eyes and neck, a situation he has seen too often for himself on his own property.The Council control measures are key to ensuring farmers restrict their stock deaths and financial losses.“Wild dogs are a serious issue, with around two to three sightings reported to Council a month,” a Council spokesperson explained.“Often landowners report native species losses from wild dogs as well as stock including cattle, sheep, horses and other domesticated stock.“Domestic pets and working dogs are threatened and at times attacked and killed by wild dogs. This impacts the owners and their families as these are loved and respected pets or work dogs and cause a deep sense of loss for the owners.”Council canprovide assistance and advice about actions farmers should take to reduce the impact of wild dogs.“In cases where livestock or pets have been harmed, Council officers will at times install motion activated cameras on the properties to determine if the dogs that caused the damage are domestic or wild dogs,” the spokesperson said.Residents are encouraged to report wild dog sightings by visiting council’s website – www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au–and searching “wild dogs” or “pest animals”, or telephoning 5475 7272.