David Lipson: In Queensland, there is no distinction between dingoes and feral dogs. Outside national parks, dingoes receive no protection and are killed by landholders who perceive them as a threat to their livestock. Traditional owners say there is a special connection with the animal and they want non-lethal methods of control to be put in place and the definition of the animal changed. Jess Naunton reports.
Jess Naunton: For thousands of years, dingoes have roamed the rainforests of Warrgamay country in North Queensland. For many in these parts, including Jirrbal woman Sonya Takau, dingoes hold deep cultural significance.
Sonya Takau: When I see a black and tan dingo or a gold dingo out on country, straight away my mind goes, that’s family.
Jess Naunton: Under the Nature Conservation Act, dingoes are protected in national parks. But outside these zones, they’re deemed a pest and can be baited, trapped and shot.
Sonya Takau: As an Aboriginal person, I find that legislation very offensive to me because there was a law on these lands long before the white man came here.
Jess Naunton: On Dunraven Station in the State’s west, the sighting of a dingo is met with fear. For station owner Paul Donnelly, attacks on stock were at their worst 10 years ago in the midst of a devastating drought.
Paul Donnelly: We lost hundreds to thousands over a fair period there. It was either fence or get out of small stock just because we were losing sheep in such large numbers. It was really upsetting.
Jess Naunton: As Queensland updates its wild dog strategy, Sonya Takau says Indigenous Queenslanders must be able to open sanctuaries to help keep orphaned dingoes from a lethal end.
Sonya Takau: If the government legislation is going to continue killing dingoes and these poor little pups are left behind, then they need to fund a safe haven.
Jess Naunton: In a statement, a spokesperson for the Queensland Department of Primary Industries says “to manage biosecurity impacts, dingoes are included in the definition of wild dogs in Queensland. Any future changes to the management or protection of dingoes will undergo public consultation, including with representatives of First Nation groups.”
David Lipson: Jess Naunton there.