The return of a bounty gives farmers another tool in the fight against wild dogs which have plundered stock numbers.
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Wild dogs cost Victoria’s livestock industry up to $18 million a year and the Victorian government on Wednesday confirmed it would introduce a bounty, of $120 for each pelt, next year as well as establish a wild dog management advisory committee.
Bethanga farmer Peter Star, who is the Victorian Farmers Federation wild dog spokesman, said the announcement was fantastic.
“It is significant. The wild dog controllers are taking out a certain amount of dogs … at the end of the day you have to look at the bounty as just another effective means of control,” Mr Star said.
“It’s not a silver bullet, it’s not the be-all and end-all saviour of the wild dog problem. It is another available means of control.”
In 2013-14, 587 pelts were claimed, on top of the 480 dogs caught by the government’s wild dog controllers.
Skin collections will occur from March and October 2017 in controlled zones across Northern Victoria and Gippsland.
The wild dog bounty is available to Victorian landholders and residents in designated Wild Dog Control Areas.
Victorian members of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia, Field and Game Australia, Australian Deer Association, Victorian Hound Hunters Association, Australian Bow Hunters Association, Gippsland Deer Stalkers Association and North East Deer Stalkers Association are also eligible.
“Farmers and landholders tell us time after time that foxes and wild dogs are a huge issue for them,” agriculture minister Jaala Pulford said.
“We’re supporting farmers across regional Victoria with a comprehensive suite of measures which, importantly, gives local communities a voice on how it should be managed.”
The new advisory committee will be chaired by member for Eastern Victoria, Harriet Shing, and will have up to six additional members representing a cross-section of stakeholders, with expressions of interest for the committee to be sought from next month.
“The stress, stock loss and costs that wild dogs cause for producers in Gippsland, North East and North West Victoria is enormous,” Ms Shing said.
“This committee will build on what’s already been done as part of an integrated approach to wild dog management.”
The announcement comes a week after aerial baiting in hard to reach parts of the North East was launched.
About 4000 fresh meat baits were to be dropped along 400km of public land in the Burrowa, Bullhead and Wabba areas of the Upper Murray as well as parts of East Gippsland.
Mr Star said the bounty would complement baiting programs.
“It is another effective means of control. The more ways we have to take it out the better,” he said.