By SONJA KOREMANS
A COUPLE have described the despair of watching their herd of goats being mauled to death by a pair of pet dogs.
Ian and Janine Jamieson, who hand-reared some of the Alpaca and Boer goats, arrived too late on Friday night to stop the bloody-faced Labrador and German shepherd from a killing spree that left 20 nannies and kids strewn across paddocks.
The dogs – both wearing collars – had roamed five kilometres from Broadwater to the Applethorpe property.
Mr Jamieson rushed to fend off the dogs with a stick but his anguish soon turned to fear when the Labrador lunged at his throat.
“The dog got down on all fours, it was crawling along the ground on its belly growling at me, then it leapt,“ Mr Jamieson said.
“It was in such a state, it would have killed anything from our goats to other dogs to a child.“
Mr Jamieson escaped by jumping a high fence before his quick-thinking neighbour shot the dog.
The Jamiesons have kept about 100 goats on the property over the past five years.
“But dogs have come in a wiped them out, killing about 80,“ Mr Jamieson said.
“Mostly it’s domestic dogs with collars, not dingoes.“
“Domestic dogs savage livestock just for a thrill because the goats were savaged – their throats ripped out – but none were eaten.”
Predators roaming onto the property range from Siberian huskies, Kelpies and Staffordshire bull terriers, to less assuming dogs such as fox terriers, Mr Jamieson said.
“Smaller breeds wander kilometres, too, from town to kill livestock, little terriers round up the herd and the bigger dogs come in and kill the goats once they are in the corner.“
Mrs Jamieson said she had been left heartbroken by the recent attack.
“The goats were like pets to us, I’d bottled fed some of them and a few we’d had for about 14 years.“
She said the couple checked the goats regularly and had recently put donkeys in with them to scare off predators.“
Now the Jamiesons have had enough. The morning after the attack, they put the property on the market.
The Southern Downs Regional Council has a baiting program in the region but the Jamiesons said it had not helped control domestic dogs.
“We went to the council with one of the dog tags and were told they couldn’t do much to help us,“ Mr Jamieson said.
“Council was able to tell us where the dog came from but that’s all, no fine for the owner.“
The couple said only solution to stop domestic dogs from killing livestock is pet owner responsibility.
“If you own a dog be responsible for it, keep it in a fenced area and don’t let it get out,“ Mr Jamieson said.
“That’s not too much to ask.“
