MEMBER for Stuart Dan van Holst Pellekaan said wild dogs had been a problem in his vast electorate for many years.
A definite spread southward had occurred, according to Mr van Holst Pellekaan, who said he was concerned about the hunting behaviour of wild dogs when conditions began to dry.
“We’ve had this time of good rain and everything breeding up, including wild dogs and their food sources,” he said.
“When we start to dry off again we’ll have an abundance of dogs but the rabbits and other food sources will start to drop away. They’ll be left with sheep and that’s going to be a really big problem.”
Mr van Holst Pellekaan said having one or two trappers targeting problem areas in SA would begin to make a difference.
“Baiting, shooting and trapping are the key things but you need a professional trapper because some dogs are so cunning that they don’t take baits and they are just about impossible to shoot,” he said.
A bounty could encourage action from all landholders but it would have to entail very strict conditions, according to Mr van Holst Pellekaan.
“I have called for a bounty for many years but it would only be a bounty that landholders could claim because you don’t want to encourage people to come shooting without permission,” he said.
As for the future, Mr van Holst Pellekaan fears the state government will not take the issue seriously until “wild dogs are seen on the outskirts of Adelaide”.
“In the meantime, all graziers throughout the rest of the state will have been very severely impacted.”
