LANDHOLDERS on the Northern Tablelands are pushing for the Forestry Corporation of NSW to be an equal partner in the fight against wild dogs.
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Sheep and cattle producers from Walcha and Niangala raised the issue at a meeting with NSW Natural Resource Commissioner John Keniry on Tuesday during the commissioner’s two-day tour of the area.
The northern trip was the fifth consultation in response to the review of pest animal management issues paper.
Contract dog trapper and fourth-generation farmer Don Noakes, “Old Wombi”, Walcha, shares a 7km boundary with Oxley Wild Rivers National Park, 40km east of Walcha.
His local Yarrowitch-Tia Wild Dog Association has about 50 members and has three baitings a year - one aerial bait and two by hand.
Those baitings are supported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Local Land Services, but farmers want help from the Forestry Corporation of NSW.
“Forestry gives us access to their land but nothing else,” Mr Noakes said.
“National parks does a lot and LLS picks up the shortfall, so I’d like to see forestry put money towards helicopter, and we also need man power when we're putting the baits out.
“The worry I have is that the national parks budget is getting tighter and they’ll see that forestry gets a ride and won’t want to spend money on dogs. They're both government agencies so they should be treated the same.”
Mr Noakes was running 3000 sheep but switched to cattle following repeated dog attacks.
“The dogs still go after calves but cows will protect their calves as much as they can, and I haven't had any losses with cattle,” he said.
“To go out before breakfast and have dead sheep everywhere - it's not worth the trouble.”
Mr Noakes recommended landholders use surveillance cameras to track dogs.
“You want to know whether you're after one, two or three dogs and you can identify the ones that you've caught and make sure that was the dog you were after,” he said.
Submissions on the issues paper are due by November 30, with the draft report to be released early next year.
The final report is due in June 2016.