6 February 2019
National Wild Dog Management Coordinator Greg Mifsud, says Victoria is at the forefront of implementing integrated wild dog management.
“We can see that the principles of the NWDAP have been put in place. Victoria is a great example of how integrated, multi-tool wild dog control can work and I’m very pleased to announce that in conjunction with AWI, the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (DELWP) has recently released a video explaining how coordinated community dog control works”.
Victoria’s Community Wild Dog Control Coordinators (WDCC), such as Hume region’s Lucy-Anne Cobby, based in Wodonga, are responsible for helping engage with community members who have suffered from predation by wild dogs and giving them an understanding of the full toolkit for wild dog control measures.
As Lucy-Anne says: “We work to connect people who are suffering from wild dog predation, with other groups, so they know they’re not alone and not the only ones suffering those problems. All affected stakeholders are encouraged to get on board to work together to manage this potentially devastating predator.”
Geoff Bussell, from Carboor in northeast Victoria sums it up pretty well: “If you can take an 80% lambing to 140% by using every tool in the book you’re pretty silly if you don’t.”
The WDCCs facilitate regular landholder forums to both review the past year and plan ahead for the next season of wild dog control. Meetings usually take place in autumn and provide grassroots feedback from those most adversely affected by wild dogs.
This is where landholders can talk to their local Wild Dog Controller (WDC) and together, create a plan of action for the season ahead.
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