Northwest Victoria dingo decision vacuum needs answers

Livestock SA has again voiced its concerns about the one-sided decision by the Victorian Government to end the dingo unprotection order in the northwest of that state, which will impact South Australian livestock producers.

Livestock SA CEO, Travis Tobin said that as new wild dog/dingo attacks were reported in northwest Victoria, there continued to be a lot of unanswered questions and still no meaningful government to government dialogue.

“The decision was unexpected and made without prior consultation with the South Australian Government, industry bodies or impacted producers and communities, despite repeated requests.”

“The main claims underpinning the decision – that is, new research that has not been peer reviewed and the dingo’s ‘threatened species’ status – still haven’t been fully explained.”

“Victoria’s unique stance on the conservation of dingoes, where they consider it to be a wolf species not a breed of dog like the rest of the country, is also puzzling.”

“One can only assume this is because dog breeds are not species so cannot be listed as threatened. But we understand that a few weeks ago Museums Victoria adopted the Australasian Mammal Taxonomy Consortium’s classification that the dingo is a breed of dog so Victoria should now be aligned with the rest of Australia.”

“The impacted area following this decision is significant. Controls are now prohibited across 1.6 million hectares of land.”

“This area shares a 250-kilometre border with South Australia, which encompasses communities between the Riverland and the fine wool production areas to Bordertown.” (See map)

“Wild dog attacks have devastating emotional and financial impacts on producers. In 2018-19, South Australian livestock producers lost 20,000 sheep annually to wild dogs.”

“Direct costs exceeded $4 million, indirect impacts such as psychological trauma were significant and hard to quantify, and plummeting lambing percentages had immediate and lasting impacts on business viability.”

“The decision has serious implications for SA livestock producers and communities bordering this region of Victoria, and broader implications for wild dog control investment in South Australia, including the $26.6 million Dog Fence Rebuild Project.”

ENDS

Media Contact:
Hannah Trevilyan, Communications and Membership Manager, 08 8297 2299

Map of the impacted area

The blue outline is the area where dingo control is prohibited.

The red outline is the area around the major areas of public land where control was formerly done.