THE Victorian Government announced this week it would abolish the three-kilometre buffer zone on dogmen trapping and baiting for wild dogs on crown land, but some farmers say the move is a snap decision to attract votes before November's election.
"I can't believe it takes two months out from an election to get about and do that sort thing of thing," said Brian Fraser, who farms sheep in the Tallangatta Valley.
"This is something that could have been done well before. How genuine are they about this?"
But the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) commended the move, saying it had long advocated for greater flexibility in wild dog control and the removal of the 3km livestock protection buffer, which had restricted wild dog control on crown land.
"As it stands doggers can only bait and trap dogs 3km beyond the fence-line into the government's (crown) land, unless they have a permit from their own department," VFF president Peter Tuohey said.
"But now the government has committed to remove this requirement, which will allow doggers to go beyond 3km, right into parks and other crown land to lay baits for wild dogs."
Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh said the change was expected to be signed off within weeks.
But Mr Fraser remained sceptical about the State Government's recent decision, as well as others including aerial baiting -- which began in May. "We will wait and see how effective it is," he said.
Recent figures have suggested the number of wild dogs being caught by trappers has declined, however, Mr Fraser believes this was because dogmen weren't able to do their jobs more efficiently and catch more.
"They have so many restrictions, they cannot perform properly," he said.
"In March, we shot 13 dogs within 500 metres of our property, despite the fact it's been baited for two years.
"And there are not as many killings around here, because people have gone out of sheep."
Mr Fraser said the risk posed by wild dogs to humans was also an issue, with a backpacker working on a local farm recently reporting a narrow escape from the predators.
"The backpacker went for a walk and arrived at a dairy farmer's place a number of hours later, saying she had been stuck up a tree ... surrounded by wild dogs," he said. "It's a scary thought what could have happened."
The emotional impact of wild dogs appears to have taken its toll on his family too.
Prior to getting in Maremmas a few years ago to help curb the issue, Mr Fraser said his son went out into the paddock to find dogs had killed about 21 lambs.
"We nearly went out of the sheep at the time," he said.
Kim Bucholtz, who runs cattle nearby, said seeing the impact wild dogs had on livestock was "horrific".
"To see a calf mauled to pieces ... there's nothing more heartbreaking," he said.
For Mr Fraser, the battle against wild dogs has been a long and taxing one - and he says government regulations surrounding the issue have made the matter worse.
"In 1977 when the moved the saleyards out of Wodonga, there were 110,000 sheep in the local shire, but now - because of wild dogs - that number is down to 20,000," Mr Fraser said.
The State Government said this year that the administrational difficulties of the past had been fixed - and reports of dogs were now acted upon quicker, but Mr Fraser disagreed.
"We rang in March and no trapper turned up. They are just not available," he said.
Trappers were desperately needed he said, and despite a promise by the Government to maintain numbers, dogmen had not been sustained.
His grandson Charlie, 17, had been learning how to set traps, and had installed cameras to catch the dogs in action. Mr Fraser said the resulting footage indicated the dogs stopped and looked at the trap, and then walked around it.
"They are very cunning."
Kim Bucholtz, who runs a cattle farm nearby, agreed.
His main grievance was that bureaucracy was hindering the effective control of wild dogs, and in particular he would like to see 72-hour rule on checking traps changed.
"If they are serious, the Government has got to overcome these hurdles," he said.
"The 72-hour rule is much too tight for a dogmen to trap dogs effectively."
Mr Bucholtz said dogmen had told him the longer a trap was left - and the less human intervention it received, the higher the chances were of catching a dog.
"The 72-hour rule might be humane, but it's not good practice for trapping dogs, because it leaves too much human scent around," he said, adding it was also time-consuming for the small number of trappers left.
In Western Australia, strychnine (poison) could be applied to traps so the dogs died soon after they were caught, but this practice was not permitted in Victoria.
"You can't do that here, but if we could do that it would not matter if you didn't get around to the traps," he said.
Another obstacle was the Government only responded to confirmed killings by dogs, and not howlings or sightings.
"That's reactive and not solving the problem," Mr Bucholtz said.
Mr Fraser's wife Mary said the Government was trying to do the right thing, but was not listening to farmers.
The couple, who are gradually working towards building up their sheep numbers back up to 6000 Merinos and crossbred ewes, said the dog issue nearly forced them out of the game.
"We did have nearly 10,000 sheep, but it got down to 2000 - and we decided to get in Maremma dogs," he said.
The combination of Maremmas and electric fencing made a difference, but he still wants to see the Government put more effort into controlling wild dogs.
