Traps laid to control wild dogs

Ashburton Shire carried out a wild dog cull after an increase in sightings around children and pets in Tom Price raised community concern last week.

Shire President Kerry White said there had been a noticeable increase in community complaints since March.

"A number of domestic pets have gone missing and there has been an increasing amount of reports of wild dogs stalking pet owners while out walking their pets," she said.

"Wild dogs have also been frequenting one of the local primary schools during the day while children are present."

Traps were laid by a contractor from June 9 to June 16 in areas where there was minimal public access

Mrs White said despite the trapping program, the community should remain vigilant to protect their families and pets after the trapping period ended. The Shire originally intended to use 1080 poison in traps, but after community consultation decided only to use strychnine as it could not be picked up and moved by smaller animals.

Tom Price Vet Clinic veterinarian Anna Curtis said it was hard to see wild dogs killed, but the safety of the community and their pets had to come first.

"I don't like seeing them baited or trapped, but it's hard to come up with another solution that's foolproof," she said.

"After seeing the damage done by dingoes to a staffy that came in last week that took two hours of surgery to fix up, I am a little less sympathetic.

"The council has to do something with them coming into town - they are really being forced into a corner."

Mrs Curtis said shooting would be a more humane way of controlling wild dogs, but could also put other animals and people at risk.