He was also critical of the program blurring the images of damage to sheep attacked by wild dogs, while showing images of distressed dogs unedited. Mr Mifsud said the 7.30 Report footage of dogs shown in distress in traps was influenced by those filming the animals. “Absolutely, the fact that they released this just after the government going into caretaker mode is a perfect example of that.” Mr Mifsud said the 7.30 Report program represented an attempt to make wild dog management a political issue. “These include alert systems that notify wild dog controllers of a dog in a trap and devices that will deliver a lethal dose of poison to render the animals unconscious followed by a humane death soon after being captured.” He said the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions is working with its partners including the Victorian Government on solutions to limit the time wild dogs remain in traps. Mr Mifsud said the reduction of wild dogs and foxes under the humane and best practice baiting and trapping program has resulted in reduced stock losses whilst maintaining healthy populations of dingoes in the state’s national parks and state forests in the east of the state. “Professional wild dog controllers are required to dispatch those wild dogs under a current nationally agreed code of practice and standard operating procedures, which they do with the utmost professionalism.” “Once they are established in these areas, they are much harder to control as the tools currently used are limited in built-up areas, putting at risk livestock and domestic pets on rural properties and hobby farms. Mr Mifsud if dingoes dispersing from the parks aren’t controlled in the 3km livestock protection zone they will move out and likely attack livestock and domestic pets on bordering properties and possibly on the outskirts of regional townships and communities. “The annual number of wild dogs trapped hasn’t declined which would indicate the dingo population inside the national park is healthy, sustainable and producing the same number of offspring each year,” he said. The dingo population in the Victorian landscape remained healthy and was not threatened with extinction, he said. Mr Mifsud said an average of 500-600 wild dogs have been removed by the wild dog program trappers in the east of the state each year for the past decade. Mr Mifsud said the wild dog control program delivered within a 3km livestock protection zone on national park boundaries acting similar to a firebreak protecting park and private land, limiting wild dogs moving onto private land to kill livestock and equally limiting domestic dogs moving into the vast national parks and breeding with the protected dingo. The action plan said the ABC 7.30 Report program failed to mention wild dogs, dingoes and dingo-like dogs are distributed right across Victoria’s Alpine National Park. “The management program is facilitating the conservation of dingoes in the national park system in eastern Victoria.” “Those wild dogs caught moving out of the parks and continuing onto private lands where they cause an impact are killed,” he said. “A total of 80 percent of the national parks and state forests is protecting dingoes, wild dogs and their hybrids where they undertake their ecosystem role and are part of the biodiversity. National Wild Dog Management coordinator Greg Mifsud said 20 percent of the state’s national park and state forests is being managed for wild dogs in the perimeter of the public estate east of the Hume Highway. The animal rights group said the ABC 7.30 Report program aired “harrowing” footage obtained by Defend The Wild, of dingoes being trapped and killed by state government wild dog controllers in the state’s north.Īlso in response to the 7.30 Report program, the National Wild Dog Action Plan declared it supported the conservation of protected dingoes in Victoria’s national parks whilst limiting the impacts of wild dogs on neighbouring properties. The issue was highlighted by an ABC 7.30 Report program on 14 November that featured footage of wild dogs/dingoes in traps as part of the National Wild Dog Action Plan measures.Īfter the ABC program, Animals Australia called for the Andrews Government in Victoria to “stop killing Victoria’s threatened dingoes before they become the latest species to join the state’s growing list of extinct mammals.” WILD dog control in Victoria is set to become an election issue as dingo proponents urge an end to current management practices and farmers campaign to halt the proposed introduction of dingoes into some parks. A dingo or wild dog caught in a trap in Victoria’s high country.
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