A new Wild Dog Management Strategy has been launched in NSW by state minister for primary industries Katrina Hodgkinson.

Ms Hodgkinson said farmers and state agencies incur around $50 million every year in wild dog management costs and the Strategy aims to drive better outcomes from this expenditure.

“For too long wild dog control has suffered from being fragmented and non-strategic,” Ms Hodgkinson said. 

“The best approach involves all parties in a local area contributing to the effort irrespective of tenures, titles and traditions.

“Now, for the first time, NSW has a high level framework to improve coordination between all the agencies and landholders for the next three years,” she said.

The Wild Dog Management Strategy details the roles and responsibilities of Government agencies, industry and the community, and lists planning, surveillance, reporting and control actions to more
effectively manage wild dogs.

“Importantly, the Strategy recognises that wild dog management plans should be developed for all affected regions, should be on a landscape scale and include all tenures, and should address the social, economic and environmental impacts of wild dogs.

“Wild dogs maul and kill valuable livestock and can ruin farm businesses – many producers have been forced to abandon their sheep enterprises. The social and emotional impacts of wild dog
attacks are simply unjust,” Ms Hodgkinson said.

The Strategy was produced with input from the Department of Primary Industries, Forests NSW, National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Livestock Health and Pest Authorities, NSW Farmers’ Association and individual farmers.

The Strategy supports the goals of the NSW Invasive Species Plan 2008–2015 and the Government’s goal to effectively manage the risks posed by pest animals.

The NSW Government is also supporting state-wide wild dog control measures through:

• targeted aerial baiting programs;
• wild dog management planning workshops; and
• wild dog research undertaken by DPI, LHPA and the Invasive Animals CRC.

The strategy can be found by clicking here