"the dogs don’t just kill sheep to eat, they will hunt for fun, so they can kill large numbers of sheep in one night"
Wild dogs are being blamed in Western Australia for the loss of hundreds of sheep. Pastoralists are criticising the government for trivialising the issue and they say feral animals are "out of control" and the region is at risk of becoming a "feral wilderness."
One pastoralist has given up running sheep on his property, stating that in a year where he expected to shear 8000 sheep, he managed to harvest wool from only less than 900. Although his property is ideal for running sheep he made the decision to farm cattle instead.
A second pastoralist has reduced his sheep headcount from 20,000 to just 2,500 and hopes to have all sheep sold off by Christmas. "If we don’t control these pests, that opens the whole agricultural area up to come under attack from wild dogs and camels," he said.
Prepared using report "Wild dog attacks spark feral wilderness fear", The West Australian 28/8/07, http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=146&ContentID=94600 **disturbing image warning**, accessed 28/8/08. Image from the source article where it is uncredited.
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