By Jeremy Sollars
Calls are being made loud and clear for landowners to unite in the ongoing battle against the scourge of wild dogs in the region’s farming industry.
With wild dogs costing the Australian economy more than $60 million every year, experts warn there is no room for complacency when dealing with the menace.
A forum to be held at Freestone on 16 March – where National Wild Dog co-ordinator Chris Mifsud will be a presenter – will be a rallying point for landowners in the mountain country east of Warwick, where wild dogs have a strong breeding foothold, including in national parks.
Southern Downs Regional Council Local Laws Officer James Eastwell – who specialises in dog and feral animal management – is urging landowners in the Freestone, Goomburra and Maryvale districts to join forces, particularly when it comes to laying 1080 poison baits which are a key control measure.
Wild dogs breeding in the largely inaccessible range country in those districts follow a well-worn path out of the mountains, heading across the ridgelines east of Warwick and venturing out to the traprock country to the west, where they are crippling the sheep industry.
But dogs are also wreaking financial and emotional havoc for cattle producers across the region, with calf losses harder to keep a handle on than those of sheep and lambs.
Calls are also growing louder for increased use of aerial 1080 baiting in national parks, where breeding pairs can easily produce six to 10 pups every year if left unchecked.
James Eastwell told the Free Times he wanted to see “more interaction” between landowners and producers.
“The terrain and the size of blocks in the range country is an issue when it comes to baiting,” he said.
“We just want to see better co-ordination of baiting and for landowners to work more closely together – baiting is only effective when you have a large number of people doing it over a widespread area.
“We already have good baiting programs happening in parts of the region, but we need more involvement and more unity.
“There are misconceptions around 1080 baits – they don’t have an effect on native animal populations which is one of the messages we want to get across.
“Baiting is best practice – along with the other key measures of trapping and shooting.”
Freestone’s Alan Payne said he had noticed an increase in wild dog activity in the district over his years of dairying and echoed calls for more landowner unity.
“We have found the dogs coming down out of the range and onto the flats more,” he said.
“If they take a calf, it’s amazing how quickly they can clean up a carcase – it’ll be gone the next day.
“When you’re mustering cows and you have the dry cows the measurability with calf losses is much more difficult.”
Swan Creek producer Noel McConville said he’d been using 1080 baits since the late ’70s and said they continued to be “the easiest and most successful” wild dog control measure.
“You can use other measures such as shooting, but you don’t see the same results,” he told the Free Times.
“Control in national parks is also vital – you tend to see a more golden yellow strain of dog in the top mountains, whereas down below it’s far more mixed in terms of colouring.”
Freestone’s Chris Mauch said one his cattle-owning neighbours had captured camera footage of “14 dogs on one beast” in recent times.
“I’d certainly encourage people to work more closely together with baiting and to come along to the forum and get to know each other.”
Well-co-ordinated baiting programs are currently run in the Wildash and Elbow Valley areas, where dedicated landowners collect, prepare and distribute 1080 meat baits, with James Eastwell saying he would like to see similar high participation right across the region.
* The Wild Dog information evening will be held at Freestone Hall from 5.30pm to 8pm on Thursday 16 March.
* Presenters will include National Wild Dog co-ordinator Chris Mifsud, SDRC Local Laws Officer James Eastwell and landowners Ben Cory and Ben Usher.
* A free sausage sizzle and cold drinks will be available. To RSVP call Alan Payne on 0427 969 964.
