Nationals declare war on wild dogs

Mr Morant has been a sheep grazier in Victoria's north-east for decades and has had countless lambs slaughtered by the wild dogs, costing him thousands of dollars every year.

''You get to a point where you don't want to go into the paddock the next morning because you get sick of seeing this death and destruction,'' he says.

''If city people don't give a stuff about country people they should care about native wildlife that is getting killed by the dogs.''

Farmers say wild dogs have been in the area, east of Wodonga, since the early 1980s.

Yesterday, Nationals leader Peter Ryan said if the Coalition won the November election it would introduce aerial baiting.

''Wild dogs are a curse, they kill indiscriminately, they kill for the fun of it. The sooner we kill them and are rid of as many as possible, the better it will be,'' Mr Ryan said.

The government spends $3.5 million to combat wild dogs including shooting, ground-baiting and fencing every year, killing 1000 dogs last year.

Spokesman Matthew Hillard said the government would ''have more to say on this issue'' soon.

Aerial baiting is used successfully in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory and allows poison to be placed in inaccessible country.

Bungil grazier Peter Star said one year wild dogs claimed 180 of his 300 lambs, and with a lamb worth at least $100, the financial impact on farmers was devastating.

''There is nothing worse than coming out and seeing dead sheep in the paddock and some still standing up with their guts hanging out. You can't effectively save them because of the disease in the dogs' system.''

Mr Ryan said aerial baiting was as humane as you could get in the fight against the introduced pests.

The opposition is also promising to create a $4 million fox and dog bounty - $50 for each dog killed by licensed shooters.